The Past Is In The Past
by The Rose Forged From Ice
Summary: It's a year after the Great Thaw and all seems to be going well besides, of course, the constant stress that seems to haunt the Ice Queen, as well as occasional nightmares. Elsa takes a little trip to her old ice palace and finds unexpected company there and Anna is left at the castle to fend for herself against a dark presence. Mainly Jelsa but also Kristanna. Rated T for themes
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1: Spring Break...? _**

As I looked out over the balcony I could see nearly every inch of my still sleeping kingdom being washed over in the early rays of morning light. To think that its been just over a year now that I had entirely lost control, and frozen over all of Arendelle and its poor unsuspecting citizens, makes me shudder. By now, of course, I had learned to control my powers to the best of my ability through love, however there was still always a part of me that was scared I might slip off track. That this certain delicate balance within me would shatter and I would be hopeless to stop the power coursing through my veins from unleashing, and causing utter chaos yet again.

Grand Pabbie told me so many years ago that fear would be my enemy, as I had learned during my traumatizing experience after my coronation, but even now I reflect on those words. But the more I processed it and ripped and distorted the situation, the more my head began to ache at the idea of fearing my own fear! This was a reoccurring habit of mine, to constantly overthink every little thing until I was rendered paralyzed by the aching migraine I got in return from all the thoughts whirling and spinning like a blizzard in my mind.

Lately however, I had been constantly plagued by the stress and duties that accompany being the Queen. All those years of studying politics and strategies necessary to assume the throne, did absolutely nothing to prepare me for what it was actually like! There would be times the servants would find me in my study asleep at my desk, with my quill still in hand, or find me passed out amongst old literature of ancient kingdoms in the library. Needless to say things were extremely stressful, but one positive outcome of the stress that accumulated was that I didn't have to worry as much about my powers as I was always too busy for them to interfere.

My thoughts were interrupted, by a firm knock on the large wooden door to my bedroom.

"...Elsa?" a voice called softly, almost uncertainly.

As soon as I heard that voice, I couldn't help but smile as memories came rushing back to me of times spent playing in the grand ballroom, with my beloved sister.

"Elsa are you awake?" the voice called again, this time a bit of worry appeared in the voice's tone.

"Yes, I'm awake. Come in, please." I responded.

I took one last look at Arendelle and the fjord below almost entirely engulfed in the morning sunlight before turning to walk to my door.

I saw the door slowly open and watched as a timid girl peeked her head through cautiously, before stepping into the room entirely. I took in the vision before me and couldn't help but smile again. The girl had her strawberry blonde hair secured into two neatly formed braids that hung a few inches below her shoulders. I cringed inwardly as I saw the white streak run from the front of her bangs and snake its way in and out of her right braid. Still seeing that little white streak was enough to bring back awful and tormenting memories of hurting my sister so many years ago, as a child. A vivid memory of her lying there unconscious on the floor, ice cold and innocent. The sight of her laying limply in my father's arms as Grand Pabbie removed my dangerous ice from her head, as well as removing her memories, was still burned into my mind.

I shivered, an unusual occurrence for me considering the cold never bothers me, and chose to brush off the taunting memories.

"Anna, you're awake!" I chuckled quietly. "I'll be the first to admit, I'm a bit surprised to see you awake and functioning properly at this hour in the morning."

I smiled at her, and as she smiled back I couldn't help but notice the slight tinge of worry in her eyes, that matched the one in her voice.

"Yeah, I guess it is a bit uncharacteristic of me, huh?" She replied quietly. I walked over to her and placed my arms on her shoulders.

"Anna, are you alright? It seems like something's troubling you."

"Well, that's what I came here for." She shifted uneasily and I could tell was upset, although what about I wasn't sure.

"If you're not too busy, Elsa...well...I...I was thinking I could come talk to you about it but if..." she trailed off and I picked up where she left off.

"Come on," I said as I led her over to my bed, "tell me all about whats bothering you."

_And for once let me be the one who's here for you_, I thought.

She took in a deep breath before replying. "Well you know this past year has been wonderful, what with you successfully ruling Arendelle and all, but I think a break may be in order..." She paused, as if waiting for my reaction, and I nodded in approval telling her to continue, realizing that this was about me and not her.

"Well that's just it..." she laughed nervously and a hopeful smile began to spread across her face, "I think you need a break, Elsa. I can tell the stress has really been getting to you and-"

I cut her off before she could finish, "Anna, I can't just 'take a break' from being the Queen!" I accepted this role on behalf of mother and father, as well as the rest of Arendelle and I knew what I was getting myself into."

Her face fell a bit at the mention of mother and father. It had been 4 years since their death and it still was not any easier for either of us to talk about, especially Anna. When I was busy isolating myself, she was alone in the castle and they were the only friends she had.

"Elsa, I have seen how you get with all this stress! I mean just look at you!"

She motioned to the mirror and I follow her gaze. When I saw my reflection I gasped silently.

My eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and there were large purple bags under my eyes. My face seemed paler, if that was even possible considering my already pale complexion. Even my once bright blue irises seemed duller and faded like...like how I felt nowadays.

"I...I guess I have had trouble sleeping lately." I admitted.

"Is it..." Anna hesitated before continuing, "...the nightmares, again?"

I slowly nodded in confirmation. Anna was the only one that knew of the nightmares I'd have occasionally. And oddly enough, they always got increasingly intense and more frequent whenever my 'Queenly Stress Level' was at a high. I don't know why I never realized that until now, but still a nightmare is just a nightmare. So as always, I just shrug it off.

"See this I what I mean, Elsa. I reaaaally think you should take a break, and you could, ooh I know! You could head up to your ice palace! And...and you could take a nice little vacation up there oh and Kristoff and I would gladly take care of anything you needed here. Even your queenly duties! And...and-"

"ANNA!" I yelled. I took a deep breath and composed myself, "Enough." I said quieter. "Look I can't just go running off to my ice palace, as lovely as that does sound, and abandon the kingdom again! Remember what happened the last time their 'Ice Queen' suspiciously ran away and fled to the mountains after freezing everything around her!?" I snapped.

I then saw the hurt look in Anna's face and realized just how hurtful and condescending my words had been to her. I sighed. Maybe she was right, maybe there is something the matter with me! I just don't see how I could pick up and leave everything as if I had not a care in the world.

"Anna, I... I'm sorry. Maybe I should take a break for a few days just to...Oof!"

I was interrupted by Anna literally throwing herself at me and nearly crushing me to death in her bear hug. Once she loosened her grip I couldn't help but smile down at my baby sister and hug her back. She was incredibly childish and naïve but that's the way I loved her and after all, she was only looking out for me and caring for my own well being.

"So then its settled! You'll be taking a teeny leave of absence while Kristoff and I manage the kingdom for you!" She said excitedly still hugging me.

I laughed and stroked her back before a serious though occurred to me. We finally pulled away from our embrace, and I held her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Anna, now you have to promise me to be careful when handling all affairs dealing with the kingdom. And leave any documents you are unsure about on my desk for me to handle when I get back." I say in a serious tone.

She waves me off as if I was annoying her and said, "Yes I know, I know!"

"Oh, and do be careful around the kitchen. We wouldn't want a repeat of last months kitchen fire now would we?" I asked with an eyebrow raised, chuckling lightly.

Anna rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah...Hey but in my defense, that frying pan came out of nowhere!" She insisted.

I just laughed and she eventually joined me. One thing about Anna was that the poor girl was miserably,and yet hilariously, clumsy.

"Alright now we have to get you packed and ready to go!" Anna said triumphantly.

"Anna? Did you forget that anything I need I can conjure from ice and snow?" I questioned with an eyebrow raised.

Anna pursed her lips in thought at this before giving in. "You really think you'll be okay without anything?" I laughed lightly.

"I'll be fine! Now let me go finish up and organize all my work for you and...oh! Are you sure you don't want me to bring any of it with me? I could work from the palace and-"

"NO!" Anna objected firmly. "You are going on a break, which means no working," she said putting her hands on her hips, "it will be like a little...spring break." She suggested smiling, liking the name she had created for it.

I laughed and smiled at her, "Is that what you're calling it?"

Anna pondered for a moment more before responding, "Yes, I quite like the name of it! And who knows, it may become an official thing one day!"

I chuckled as she continued rambling about how brilliant her creativity skills were and how she should use them more often. I used this as my opportunity to slip out and sort my work. I walked out of my room waving to Anna as she continued talking to herself before heading down the long hallway to my study, the place where I spent most of my time nowadays. I walked into my study and over to my large wooden desk.

It was made of a natural maple that was painted so it turned slightly white and glossy, and had intricate designs painted on it resembling frost and snowflakes in multiple shades of blue. It was a gift from the Prince of Andulasia, Edward, and it contrasted the rooms dark blue painted walls. On the wall behind my desk was a large window, and hanging above the window were navy blue drapes, with silver stitching and embroidery of swirling snow patterns down the sides, that pulled back to reveal the castle gardens, including a pond her and Anna frequently skates on.

My work was strewn all over the desk and I sighed and mumbled something about 'being more organized' as I walked over to clean it all up. I thought back to my clumsy, young sister having to sort through all of this and handle it on her own, and it made me second guess my decision. Then I decided to go with it, considering she'll never leave me alone until I agree to leave, so I might as well make it easier. I was just about finished sorting, and decided to go freshen up before leaving for the ice palace.

I traveled back to my room and went to quickly wash my face, allowing the refreshing cool water to splash against my face and neck. I dried my face up, applied a quick layer of light makeup, and put my hair up into its usual formal bun, before moving onto my wardrobe to choose an outfit.

I picked out a dark turquoise dress that had navy blue swirls along the bottom of the skirt and on the bodice. There was silver stitching throughout the swirls making them appear to shine like swirls of snow. I grabbed a navy cape with silver and turquoise lining the edges that formed into a snowflake design towards the back where it fanned out into a trailing train behind me.

Satisfied with my outfit, I looked in the mirror one last time before deciding to head out and leave for my little 'spring break.'

I chuckled to myself, "Spring break...ha! What a novel idea!" I rolled my eyes at the thought of my sister and made a mental note to tease her about that upon my arrival back.

"Actually spring break is a lot of fun, usually leads to partying and...fun, my specialty." Said a low voice.

I whipped around and gasped at what I saw. My thoughts instantly started racing and I could already feel the impending headache.

_Who is...and how did he...is that even possible? I'm going insane..._

**_ A/N: Oooh so who's that guy? (I don't recogniiiize) Sorry HSM3 moment there...haha _**

**_Ooh and did anyone catch the Disney reference in this chapter? Its from a Disney princess movie... *hint hint* _**

**_Anyways I'm hoping the next chapter will be up soon within the next few days, being as I'll be on vacation visiting family and will have nothing netter to do that update :) And yeah, haha, can you tell I've got spring break on the brain? _**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome here!_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: The Queen and the Spirit**_

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a young boy who looked not much older than me who was, not standing, but floating in midair. I blinked a few times as if I was overtired and had to wait for my vision to refocus, but he was still floating there when I opened my eyes! Finally I came to my senses and my defensive reflexes kicked in as I willed myself to speak.

"Who are you? And how did you get in my chambers?" I firmly questioned.

I watched cautiously as the boy gracefully landed on the ground and walked towards me, stepping into the sunlight streaming in from my now slightly opened window. As he took long strides towards me without saying a word, I took in his appearance. He was wearing an odd dark blue cloak of some kind with designs along the collar that appeared to be...frost? His long, lanky legs were dressed in brown trousers that hugged against his skin and stopped mid-calf with strings wrapping around his calves. He carried what seems to be a contorted shephard's staff, which was straight until it formed a crooked curve at the top. The staff looked like it was covered in frost as well, as there were swirling designs of crystalized white infusing with the dark wood.

It wasn't until that moment that I looked up directly at his face. I gasped inwardly. He was...gorgeous. Wait, what did I just say?! He had a strong jawline and boyish looking features, including ears slightly resembling that of an elf. His complexion was fair, but even more so than my own pale face, his skin seemed almost pure white in the sunlight. Then my gaze locked onto his eyes. Oh...those eyes. They were the most beautiful color of blue I had ever seen in my life, they were most a silvery type of blue that stood out against his pale face.

As I was looking him over he cleared his throat and spoke up, "My name is Jack, Jack Frost." He said with a sideways smirk.

That smirk...oh my. I briefly caught a glimpse of his perfectly white teeth, just about as white as freshly fallen snow. I couldn't help but instantly feel intrigued by this young man who now stood in front of me in my own bedroom. Then I wondered back to how he was floating and, more importantly, how he had found me and found his way into my bedroom!

I remember back to the stories my mother would read to Anna and I when we were children, the Guardians of Childhood. I remember that they were a group of magical beings that restored the wonder, hope, and dreams of children everywhere. Although if I did remember correctly, Jack Frost was not one of those Guardians. So then how did I remember that name?

Finally, it came to me. Of course! I thought, how could i forget my favorite story? The story of Jack Frost was the tale I begged my mother to read to me every night. It absolutely fascinated me to think that someone else in the world had those same special powers as me. That maybe I wasn't alone.

I broke myself from my memories and felt my cautious self return as I composed myself and remained my usual emotionless expression.

"Jack Frost?" I questioned, "As in the Spirit of Winter, Jack Frost?"

"The one and only, at your service, ma'am." He bowed dramatically, before returning to grin at me again. I swear I felt my heart skip a beat.

"But the Tale of Jack Frost is just a myth...?" I said skeptically, furrowing my brows together.

He feigned hurt and said, "Ouch! I am very real you know! See, I'll show ya!"

I watched as he tapped my window with his staff and frost rapidly spread across it, leaping and bounding across the glass as though it had just been set free. He then turned to me before creating a snowball out of thin air and tossing it into the air. I watched as it burst into a million tiny snowflakes that scattered around my room. I felt my eyes go wide for a moment before I returned them to their normal unattached state. I held out my hand and a delicate snowflake landed on my index finger. For any normal person, the snowflake would have melted just by the heat from direct contact of skin, but I wasn't normal. It stayed intact and danced along my fingertips, as I willed it to using the unusual temperature of my hands to my advantage. I then realized what I was doing, or more importantly, who I was doing it I'm front of, and immediately stopped playing with the snowflake. I hoped he didn't see that. I looked up to see that he was too busy playing with his own little group of snowflakes to notice, and mentally sighed of relief.

"So you really _are_ Jack Frost?" I asked, more to myself than him.

"Yeah that's me, creating snow and spreading fun."

I just nodded slowly before replying sharply, "Yes, well how did you get in here, Jack Frost?"

He chuckled and said, "You must like saying my name." He winked at me, and I had to control my wavering knees beneath me.

"And, well let's just say, the window was open." He nervously ran a hand through his silvery white hair.

I shot him a glare, despite how cute he looked when he ruffled his own hair, and icily replied, "How dare you break into my castle and invade my personal privacy! I'll have you know that I-"

He cut me off, "Your castle?!" He asked flabbergasted.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, "Yes my castle!" I hissed, mocking him, "Do you know who I am?!"

"Well..." He began, as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "no I dont...I didn't even catch your name..." He trailed off.

My expression softened a bit, as I felt a tinge of...guilt? No less, I put on my queenly gaze and reassumed my regal posture before announcing,

"I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle."

His jaw dropped, "Well then my apologies, your Majesty." He looked entirely flustered and it was cute. Wait, what?!

"What brings you here, Mr. Frost?" I asked, a smile tugging at my lips.

"Well, you see since I am the Spirit of Winter, it is my job to bring winter to many places around the world." He explained.

"Yes but it is the middle of summer right now in Arendelle..." I interjected, still confused.

He laughed, "Yes, I'm aware of that! Please, the last time I 'accidentally' caused an untimely winter...well let's just say it was trouble!"

Yeah, tell me about it, I thought.

"Anyways," he continued, "I was flying around, trying to catch some fresh air and see some sights, when something caught my eye. It was up in the north mountain, and I couldn't quite tell what it was, so I flew closer to see it. And get this, it was a castle made entirely of...ice!" He said excitedly.

I immediately tensed up at the mention of my ice palace, for multiple reasons. The reason I built that palace was due to my horrific actions and inability to control my powers for the sake of my kingdom and my sister. The memory of the hurt and terrified look on Anna's face as I fled Arendelle still etched in my mind, clear as day. But the other reason being that this stranger, this Jack Frost, had no idea that the palace was entirely my doing. It was my creation. But he didn't know that, and more ironically, that's exactly where I was headed, so it was imperative that he didn't know it was mine. That also brought me back to the fact that I needed to leave, and that the whole purpose of this little endeavour was for me to relax and unwind. Not to be stressed out about strange spirits popping in through my window, all the while unknowingly playing with my emotions.

He must have noticed how I tensed up and became enthralled within my own thoughts, as he broke my concentration with his low, rumbling voice,

"Do you know anything about that? Or anyone that could've made it?" He asked innocently.

"No." I replied shortly, "I know nothing of this palace or its whereabouts, and I especially know nothing regarding it's creator."

I took a deep breath, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way. I have very important matters to attend to."

And with that I turned and fled out the door of my bedroom, leaving a very confused Jack Frost standing there. It wasn't long, however, until I heard footsteps running down the hallway behind me.

"Queen Elsa! Wait!" I heard a voice yell.

I turned around to face the voice's owner.

"Jack, I already told you I have to go take care of some things. Why are you following me?" I replied.

"Wait, okay? Just...hear me out! We just met and you're already running away from me?!" He said with a smirk.

"Jack," I said more sternly, "I have to go. Goodbye." I turned around to keep walking, but I heard the footsteps again.

I whirled around and yelled, "And do not follow me!"

I turned back around one last time to keep on walking, only to notice that there was a layer of frost slowly creeping up the walls of the hallway.

_Great_.

I started walking faster and faster, until I was running down the rest of the hall, and through the main corridor near the back of the castle. I took one last look at the path I had just taken, and was horrified to see the amount of ice crawling along, following me. I had to leave now. Right now. For some reason my powers were out of control at the moment, and I had to leave before hurting anyone. Especially Anna.

I burst through the doors, ran through the garden, and towards the forests that surrounded Arendelle.

_**A/N: So today's chapter is a little shorter than yesterday, but I wanted to focus on the first interactions between Jack and Elsa. **_

_**So Elsa in this chapter was a little more of her defensive and distant self that she had been all those years, when she was 'concealing and not feeling.'**_

_**So why did she react that way? Why are her powers acting up? What do you think Jack will do?**_

_**And the next chapter will be either Jack's POV on seeing the ice palace and meeting Elsa or Anna's POV with some Kristanna as they plan to take over for a few days. I could also combine them...hmmm not sure yet!**_

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Ice Palace Reunion**_

Jack's POV (fan girl scream)

It had been a rather eventful day for me, to put it simply. My day had begun the same way it usually did, except today I had the sudden urge to explore a new place, or at least one I hadn't visited in a while.

_Hey Wind! Take me somewhere new and interesting!" I yelled._

_And with that I jumped off the rooftop I had been currently standing on, and allowed the wind to carry me to my surprise destination. Being the Guardian of Fun allowed me to 'go with the flow' so to speak, and most of the time I did just that. That's how I had occupied the last 300 years of my life._

_Wow...has it already been 300? That was a trick question, a sick joke, that haunted me every day of my never-ending life. When I had first become Jack Frost, my seventeen-year-old self thought immortality was the coolest thing to ever happen to me. But slowly as the days went on and dragged into months, pulling into years, decades, and eventually centuries, I found that it was nothing special. In fact, it became more of a curse as time continued to drag on._

_Loneliness. The one word that could easily sum up the past 300 years of my supposedly 'fun-filled' life. Truthfully, however, there was absolutely nothing fun about not being seen by anyone, meaning I could never have real friends, or anything else for that matter._

_I was snapped back to reality as something glinted in the sun, causing a blinding glare-like shine. From where I stood, well floated, I couldn't even remotely tell what it was, so I decided to go check it out. Of course, I had no idea where in the world I was, including what time period and even what realm! But, naturally, being the fun-loving and curious guy I was, I insisted on going to investigate. I thought back to North telling me something about cats being killed by curiosity...weird, huh? Sometimes that guy never made any sense._

_At this point I had gotten considerably closer to the shimmering object, and I could clearly see what it was now. Before me stood a massive palace, perfectly perched atop one of the Northern mountains. The sheer size of the palace was enough to make anyone's jaw drop, but it was what the palace was made of that made me even more intrigued. Ice. Letting my fascination get the better of me, I landed softly on the grand staircase leading up to two large double doors with a large snowflake design down the middle. I decided to see if anyone was gone, so I loudly knocked on the door and to my surprise, they opened by themselves. I walked into a grand foyer with a double staircase winding up each side of the room to meet at the top. There were fountains placed that were frozen still, as if the water had been holding its breath waiting for the command to begin moving freely again. I looked up and gazed in astonishment at the piece of art hanging from the ceiling in crystalline form. The massive chandelier my eyes were fixed on had intricate designs, and detailed snowflake-like embellishments, as well as ice crystals hanging from the ends._

_"Wow..." I breathed. "This is incredible!"_

_Suddenly, it dawned on me that I still had no idea where I was, and I decided to leave the ice palace in search of some answers. I flew back out the front door and down the side of the mountain. It was still impressively cold up here, considering I discovered, nestled in the fjord below, was a kingdom that seemed to be in the middle of summer. As I flew closer to this unnamed kingdom, I couldn't help but notice the sense of familiarity that washed over me. But why?_

_I finally approached the first thing that drew my attention; the castle which I assumed belonged to the royalty of said kingdom. I slowly circled around the massive building, quickly peeking in each window that I passed. I was about to conclude my search for information unsuccessful, when I saw a young woman standing in a room with her back to me. All I could really see was her long dark cape and the back of her head which was covered in platinum blonde hair that was twirled in some updo. I was immediately drawn to her, for reasons I couldn't explain, even to myself. It could have been the fact that she was absolutely gorgeous, and strangely enough, very similar in features to myself._

_That being said, I decided to go into the room, as stealthily as I possibly could, in an attempt to see this woman closer. I gently pushed on the window and much to my surprise, it opened with ease. I quietly stepped into the room, luckily without her noticing, and slowly walked closer to her. I stopped dead in my tracks when she said something that caught my attention._

_"Spring break...ha! What a novel idea!" She rolled her eyes and smiled to herself._

_Her smile was beautiful; perfect white teeth filling the space between her magenta-tinted lips._

_For some reason, my naturally witty and sarcastic self felt the need to reply, leaving me with no time to think over the action before doing it._

_"Actually spring break is a lot of fun, usually leads to partying and...fun, my specialty."I said._

_Immediately she whirled around and stared at me clearly confused and in shock of me standing in front of her. I could literally see the confusion etched on her face, and part of me thought it was funny and kinda cute, while the other part felt guilty. Then the guilt slowly started to spread, as I thought about how I had basically stalked her and then snuck up on her only to scare her. I was snapped out of my thoughts by the face that was before me, her beautiful pale face. Her skin was almost as pale as mine, but with a touch more of color in her cheeks. She had her platinum blonde hair tied back in the updo I saw, and she had short bangs laying on her forehead. Her eyes were such a beautiful cerulean blue, I wished I could stare and get lost in them for hours._

Remembering my encounter with her, only resulted in the image of her flawless face being burned into my mind. And I didn't mind one bit. The second I laid eyes on her, I knew something about her was different, I just couldn't pinpoint what exactly. And the way she kept herself composed and graceful throughout the entire thing was just incredible. She was incredible. I have to admit I feel pretty ridiculous talking about this girl, this Queen, whom I had just met and yet had become so enthralled by her. I was captivated by not only her appearance, but also the way I seemed to feel around her. I didn't feel so...alone.

Being immortal comes with certain emotions that no human, at least that I've met, could ever be able to understand. And one of those is pure and utter loneliness. As the days went by, I began to notice how everything felt so empty, and I felt that I didn't have a purpose. I didn't always feel that way though. I had always been a person who loved adventure and fun when I was human before I...died. But when the Man in the Moon brought me back, he gave me these powers to manipulate the ice, snow, and winter winds, which only intensified my love for fun. I was able bring happiness to children by bringing them snow days and starting unexpected snow ball fights, but there was a catch. Even throughout all the fun, no one believed in me; I was just a legend to explain the cold. That was the main cause of the emptiness I felt, but all that changed one fateful day when the guardians told me of Manny's wishes for me.

But being a guardian was another thing entirely, from what I originally thought. It was singlehandedly one of the most amazing things to ever happen to me, despite my original decline to the offer. Being a guardian, to me, meant that I was able to create fun for kids and they would know it was me. And I wouldn't be so alone.

Seeing Queen Elsa gave me the same feeling I had when I was around my first believer, Jamie Bennett. For some reason this woman made me feel like I had another purpose besides just being a guardian. She made me feel like I was missing something, and I couldn't help but feel that she would hold the answer as to what that was.

I was interrupted from my thoughts as I had to violently swerve to avoid crashing into a tree face first. _Phew! That was close!_ I had been flying for a while, apparently, as I looked around and saw where I was again. There in front of me stood the ice palace I had ever so recently discovered. I couldn't help but smile upon seeing this magnificent work of art again, and grinned even more when I started flying towards the entrance. I stepped inside, leaving the door open, and took in the scene again. The palace was very relaxing to me, and I thought I would stay here for a while, almost like a little vacation.

It was then that I heard the footsteps of someone coming up the long staircase that lead to the castles entrance. I decided to make myself scarce and flew up to hide in the frozen fractals of the grand chandelier upstairs, still admiring it while hiding.

As I looked down, I saw the person walking in through the doors and was immediately confused.

_What is she doing here?_

Elsa's POV

I had run to the stables and retrieved my horse and raced off. There was no way I could stay in Arendelle another minute with my powers flaring up uncontrollably again. And that was the part that scared me the most. I had absolutely no idea whatsoever as to why my powers were going crazy! Maybe it was due to that mischievous winter spirit, Jack Frost. I remembered when he was in my bedroom, feeling the unmistakable tug in my fingers of my powers begging me to be let loose. This time it was different though, this time it almost seemed as though they were pulling me towards a certain white-haired male.

A very attractive white-haired male. I thought.

I shook off the thoughts of Jack, and turned my focus to worry about the safety and well being of my little sister. It was natural for me to worry about her, especially since I had been doing it my entire life. And after the Great Thaw, when I saw how happy she was that she had found Kristoff, I was just as happy. _Ah, Kristoff_. The poor man had always wanted nothing more than Anna's own happiness, very similar to my views as well, and was determined to make her feel safe. This is why I had approved of their marriage and gave them my blessing. They have been engaged for about 3 months, and my sister has been furiously planning the wedding ever since. I smiled thinking about my sister and how happy she was now, in comparison to her lonely life as a child, growing up. She had found the one person that completed her life like a missing puzzle piece and there were times I was...well...jealous. Not of Kristoff, but of the love that they had together. I had lead an extremely lonely life for years, almost my whole life long and I couldn't help but want someone to break that loneliness.

However, having the powers I did has proved to make things difficult before. I had already been through the process of meeting eligible suitors...twice. And neither were very successful. On both occasions I found myself unable to control the emotions that ran rampant through my mind as I opened up to someone. From then on I made a declaration that I will not marry, and will in turn rule as Queen. Alone.

Love for me just seemed as though it was impossible, and entirely unattainable. I had given up and decided that I was fine being alone. God knows I have been for long enough... My thoughts stopped abruptly as I approached my beloved ice palace, a warming smile spreading across my lips. I climbed down off my horse, and sent him off back in the direction of Arendelle, while I continue moving forward in the direction of my second home. I slowly walked up the long, curved staircase that lead up to the big double doors at the entrance to the palace. I trailed my hand along the ice railing and admired the smooth cold feeling to it. Once I reached the top I was surprised to discover that the front doors had been left open. Did I do that?

"Hmm...that's odd..." I said aloud.

I entered either way and felt a wave of joy wash over me as I took in the sight of my beloved creation, newly repaired. After Hans and his men had come through and destroyed my perfect chandelier, I had come back a few months ago to repair all the damages they had done. And here I was again today, feeling relaxed and more calm the instant I walked in, as I mentally thanked Anna for forcing me to go.

I walked upstairs and began the process of conjuring the necessary items needed for my stay out of ice and snow. I extended my hand and created a large bed of ice with a comforter made of snow, and as I twisted my hand the ice became enchanted and turned to fabric. I moved on to create a bedside table with intricate designs carved into it, as well as a small couch in the corner of the room next to a bookcase. I had brought some books with me considering my love for reading to keep me occupied. As I finished up creating my bedroom from ice, I couldn't help but feel uneasy all of a sudden. I felt as though there were eyes somewhere in the room I hadn't seen.

I felt like I was being watched.

**_A/N: So there ya have it, three chapters in three days! Y'all are spoiled readers aren't you? _**

**_So lots of introspection here with both Elsa and Jack and the reasoning for that being, yes they just met and are absolutely intrigued by each other, but they are also both very complex characters. They both rend to keep their emotions to themselves, so I played off of that._**

**_ And AHHH JACK POV! That was exciting to write being as he is perfection :) _**

**_I also brought in a little bit of Anna and Kristoff's relationships with Elsa which was pretty fun _**

**_In response to Shimmer Shine: In regards to Jack and Elsa, I've read my fair share of Jelsa fics and som_****_etimes I feel they 'fall in love' a bit too quickly. But don't worry i ship Jelsa pretty hard and there is plenty in store for these two and everyone else, for that matter!_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Thawing Her Heart**_

_**Anna's POV **_

I was sitting in Elsa's study behind her massive wooden desk, sorting through papers and reading letters. I seriously have no idea how she does this all day, every day of the year! It soooo boring! That's why I'm really, really glad that Elsa agreed to take a little break and head to the ice palace. She left this morning, a little after breakfast, and left me a note saying: _I'll be back in three days time.- Elsa_

I smiled at the note and at the thought of my sister being happy again. I don't think she realizes it, but I can usually read her like a book when it comes to how she's feeling. And honestly, I'm not even sure how that's possible considering she spent a majority of her life avoiding me and shutting me out...but that's all in the past now!

I could tell Elsa has been really stressed lately. She was showing it in the ways she was acting, in her sleeping habits, and of course, the nightmares had returned. Elsa was constantly plagued with horrible nightmares that tore her apart inside, causing her to wake up screaming and sometimes thrashing at the air defensively. Whenever she was stressed, however, these nightmares were much more consistent and, from what I could tell by listening through the door, more intense. I felt really awful for Elsa, being as I couldn't help her and I didn't know what it felt like to have bad nightmares. Even though I didn't know how it felt, I could guess based on what I heard from behind the door.

I remembered one time...

*_Flashback*_

It was probably close to midnight and I was making my way downstairs to find myself a literal 'midnight snack.' I slid down the banister of the grand spiral staircase and down the hallway that lead to the kitchen. I quickly found my secret stash of chocolate and grabbed one, before shoving it in my mouth. I grabbed a handful more of the delicious treats, and decided to head back to my room and finish my chocolates there. I walked lazily back up the stairs and turned down the corridor containing mine and Elsa's rooms. As I was returning to my room, I heard screams coming from her room, and she was screaming a name...my name. Naturally, I wanted to know what the heck was going on! So I barged in the door, dropping the chocolates on the floor, and went to help my sister. When I entered however, Elsa was no longer screaming and thrashing, as she was snapped awake by me basically breaking down the door. She sat up fully awake, but not entirely aware yet of exactly what had happened to her.

"Elsa!" I rushed over to her bed, "Elsa, are you okay?! You...you were screaming, screaming my name a-and I...I didn't know what was going on and..." I frantically blurted out.

She simply nodded in reply before she had mustered the strength to form a sentence. 'Yes, Anna, I am fine. It...it was just a nightmare, that's all." She said, still a bit shaken.

"Okay," I said, not wanting to push the subject, "just let me know if you need anything."

And with that I left her room, closing the door behind me and headed over to my own room, seeking some sleep of my own.

*_End Flashback *_

Sometimes I worry about Elsa. Not on a physical level, but on more of an emotional level, especially since she had this nightmare problem. She always just seemed so lonely to me, and I couldn't help but feel like she needed love. Believe me, I already give her all the love in the world, but that is sisterly love. Elsa needs true love, a love that will ensure she's cared for and where she'll feel adored. A love that will chase away the nightmares and comfort her through her fears. But most importantly, a love that can accept her powers and appreciate them just as much as she does. That's what I hope my sister finds one day; the same happiness that I've found with Kristoff!

_Speaking of Kristoff, where was he?!_

I put down the letter I was pretending to read, and left the study. I was heading towards the kitchen to grab some more chocolate, when I glanced out the window and saw Olaf and Sven playing in the courtyard. I immediately smiled upon seeing the two frolicking around with a large group of children, four of them riding on Sven's back, and three more running around chasing Olaf. My smile then changed into a slight frown as I realized Kristoff was not with them, and in fact, was no where to be found.

I continued on with my journey to the kitchen and, upon my arrival, grabbed some chocolate before leaving again to work in the study. When I came out of the kitchen, I glanced into the dining room only to be pleasantly surprised to see a certain blonde sitting at one of the chairs snacking on some carrots. I laughed to myself before squealing and rushing towards him with my arms open. He looked tired and worn out, but as soon as he saw me his eyes lit up and became excited to see me. He stood with his arms open as well and I ran into them, pulling him into a tight hug, as he kissed the top of my head and I giggled.

"I've been looking all over for you!" I said, feigning exhaustion. He chuckled and said, "Well I'm glad you found me. I've missed you terribly while you've been working." His face sank a bit and I reached up to place one of my hands on his cheek.

"I know, I'm sorry. But I promised Elsa I would take care of this, and I refuse to let her down!" I said triumphantly.

"One thing I've always admired about you," Kristoff said laughing, "is your determination."

I playfully slapped his arm before grabbing onto him again and pulling him through the dining room doors forcefully.

"C'mon! I going to work and you're going to help me!"

"Anna, I don't think that's such a good i-"

"TOO LATE!" I teased.

I dragged down the hallway and into the study once more and brought him over to the massive desk and had him pull over a chair for himself. I then instructed him to fetch a large pile of papers consisting of everything ranging from peace treaties to marriage proposals. I divided the pile into two halves and gave Kristoff one half, and myself the other. I gave him a quick lesson on what to do with each type of document, and finally we both sat down and began our sorting and responding. We worked in silence for a while before I broke the silence once more, "I wonder if Elsa has made it to her ice palace yet?"

"Where ever she is, I hope she's having more fun than I am..." Kristoff huffed.

I couldn't help but laugh. He was so cute sometimes.

_**Elsa's POV **_

I felt like I was being watched.

I carefully surveyed my surroundings to look for any disturbances or any unwelcomed guests. I looked over the room one last time before glancing up to look at the chandelier. That's when I saw it, or rather when I saw him. I squinted to be sure of what I was seeing. Yep, its him. I'd recognize that white hair anywhere.

"Jack?!" I questioned, the anger rising in my voice.

Sure enough, the mischievous winter spirit peeked his head out from behind the part of the chandelier he was hiding in. He smiled a guilty and sheepish looking smile at me, until he saw the angry expression on my face. He cautiously flew down from his perch to the ground in front of me while I glared at him the entire time.

"Hi..." He said awkwardly.

"What the hell are you doing here?! Didn't I tell you not to follow me?!" "I didn't follow you! I swear!" He defended.

"Then how did you know about this place?" I questioned.

At that point I could literally see the lightbulb go off in his head as he made the connection that I had lied about knowing of this palace and its whereabouts.

"I could ask you the same question." He pushed, slightly narrowing his eyes at me.

"That is none of your concern, Jack."

"So, do you always blatantly lie to people?" He asked, clearly frustrated.

"I told you, it is none of your concern. And I do not need to explain myself to you. Now leave." I replied forcefully, narrowing my eyes as well.

He paused for a moment, as if he was choosing his next words carefully. I turned to walk away, but his deep voice stopped me.

"You realize I know what you can do, Elsa."

"What are you talki-" I began, before he interrupted.

"Save it, Elsa. I've seen what you can do. I just want to know, why? Why are you hiding it?" He said, his expression softening to one of compassion.

I swallowed the lump that was developing in my throat before turning around and answering, "I...Fine, so you know about my powers. Will you leave me be now?" I pleaded.

Jack must've noticed the desperation in my voice as he stepped closer to me and looked me straight in the eye. "Elsa, I'm not here to hurt you."

I felt the anger return again, but this time I felt the same unfamiliar pull in my fingertips that I had felt when he was in my bedroom.

"Then why_ are_ you here?" I snapped.

He seemed shocked at my reaction and took a step back, which caused my mood to change, yet again. I started feeling guilty for snapping and being so cold to him, but at the same time, he had just showed up here and discovered something I would never openly reveal to any stranger. I felt like I had the right to be mad at him, but the more I looked into his distraught eyes, which were currently trying to figure me out, the more I felt he wasn't so bad. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted,

"Look Elsa, if my presence really bothers you that much, then I'll leave." He turned to go and before I could stop them, the words blurted out of my mouth,

"Jack, wait! I'm... I'm sorry."

I immediately clasped my hand over my mouth. I was in shock that I had reacted that way, and the fact that I really couldn't stop myself from begging him to stay. What was it about him that was so enticing to the point where I wanted him to stay with me in my palace of isolation? There was definitely something different about this boy, despite his white hair and icy powers. But what was it? I was so wrapped up in the emotional blizzard of my mind, that I hadn't even noticed he had come back to face me again, this time standing even closer.

I looked up at him and directly into his blue eyes. He took another step closer to me and felt my heart speed up. It was then that I realized that there was a snowflake design dancing on his irises of azure. I smiled a weak smile at him,

"Sorry, I'm not sure why I reacted like that..." I trailed off and looked away.

He took his hand and gently turned my face so that I was looking at him again, sharing direct eye contact again. The feeling his touch brought to my skin was indescribable, as it tingled and brought warmth to the spot he touched. That was definitely new for me, being as I was always cold and anyone who touched me would feel extremely cold. But he seemed unaffected by it.

"So, can I stay?" He asked me quietly. I could also detect a hint of another emotion flickering in his voice, hope. I thought about his offer and thought about what I would actually prefer him to do. If he left, it would be just myself in this large palace, and I would be once again, alone. Not once breaking eye contact with him, I could see the sincerity shining in his eyes. And for the first time in forever, I decided that I didn't want to be alone. For once I wouldn't isolate myself, but instead welcome the company of the kind and gentle winter spirit. I smiled at him once more,

"I guess it couldn't hurt."

**_A/N: Awww so Elsa is thawing out a bit and deciding to open up to Jack's friendly advances! Possibly the beginning of a budding romance? Most likely Haha _**

**_And a just little bit of Kristanna fluff for you Kristanna fans! It was really cool though to illustrate Anna's worried for her sister since their relationship is so sweet :)_**

**_And sorry about the rough transitions in the flashbacks, I'm on vacation right now and the processor I have to use isn't the greatest and won't let me italicize a large amount of text :(_**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome :)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter_ 5: Shattered Walls_**

_**Jack's POV **_

As soon as she said she would let me stay, I instantly felt a sense of relief rush over my body. But that wasn't all I felt. I felt a wave of many different emotions wash over me including happiness, joy, and hope. But for once I didn't feel so lonely. I wanted to know more about this woman, in fact I wanted to know everything. She seemed like she was a very guarded person, and I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me anything, including her fears. I didn't know why she was so afraid, or more importantly, what she was so afraid of, but I wanted to. She was such a beautiful, graceful woman who was very poised and regal in her appearance and the way she carried herself, but I could tell she felt differently inside. One of the advantages of being immortal and alive for very long time, was that I could tell how people really felt as apposed to how they presented themselves. I wanted to figure Elsa out, and I wanted to be there for her. A woman as amazing as her shouldn't have to be alone, and I was determined to make sure she wouldn't have to be.

_**Elsa's POV **_

I smiled at him once more, "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

The second those words left my mouth he grinned ecstatically, jumped up and fist pumped the air. It was obvious he was overjoyed that I had agreed to him extending his stay here with me, but I was somewhat shocked that he had been that happy. I then found myself to be extremely interested in learning more about Jack, so I decided to bring it up.

"Here," I offered, "follow me."

It was later into the afternoon, as I had left the castle this morning after breakfast, and the journey up here took quite a while, so rays of fading sunlight streaked through the ice walls of the palace. I grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him over to the sofa which I had created earlier, while he was watching me of course. As soon as our skin made contact, I let out a short gasp. It immediately sent a small shock-like shiver through my fingertips, up my arm and into my chest. His reaction when our hands touched confirmed that he felt it as well, and was just as surprised as I was. We exchanged a quick look of shared confusion, before deciding to let it go and I sat down on one end of the sofa, before motioning him to sit beside me. He swiftly brought himself to sit next to me on the other end, facing me with his legs crossed. I turned to face him as well and mimicked his position, while he smiled at me warmly.

"So Jack, tell me about yourself." I said, with a genuine interest.

"Well," he began, "what is it you want to know?"

I pondered for a minute, bringing my index finger and thumb to my chin in thought.

"Anything and everything!" I said happily, before turning to doubt, "...well that is if you want to..."

He smiled warmly in response, reassuring me quickly, before continuing. "Of course! Well, where do I begin? It all started about 300 years ago..."

*Insert Rise of the Guardians*

"And ever since that day, I've been the Spirit of Winter, and Guardian of Fun. And of course charming, witty, and gorgeous all the while." He concluded, winking at me, and I couldn't help but laugh.

_Oh that wink was enough to make my heart flutter, nearly skipping a beat._

"And how old are you?" I questioned curiously.

"Eh, approximately 317. Give or take a few years." He shrugged nonchalantly before bursting into fits of laughter upon seeing my shocked face.

"Wow..." I breathed. Then added with a giggle, "Well if it means anything, you don't look a day over 17!"

He chuckled again before replying, "One of the perks of immortality!"

I let out one final bout of laughter, before turning into a more serious mood. I thought over what I was about to say, slowly piecing together my sentence in my head.

"So," I started hesitantly, "do you ever fear that Pitch will come back? You know for revenge and all?"

I saw his lovely smile slowly fade as he let my words soak in, changing his mood as well to serious. I immediately felt guilty for dampening the mood and overall making him seem upset. But when he finally spoke he seemed sure of himself, and more confident rather than upset,

"The one thing that Pitch thrives off of, is fear, and if I allow my own fear to escape, it would only empower him. So no, I don't fear that he'll come back, especially after the ass-kicking he got last time." He said, with a smirk at the last part.

I thought about his answer before nodding in reply, then looking back up to meet his eyes. "That's a very good way to approach things, Jack." I said with a small smile creeping on my lips.

He just nodded with a smile in response, and I used this chance to ask a question that had been pulling at my mind.

"Last question, I promise!" I said smirking at him, "How did you survive all those years without having anyone who could see you?"

"To be honest, Elsa, it was hard. Really hard. I constantly felt so alone, and always feared that I would be alone for the rest of my life. Every day that went by, I thought about having someone at my side, and wished I would find that someone eventually."

I felt a sharp tug at my heart, as I thought over his response. He had immortality and special ice powers that not many other people couldn't say they had. It would seem like he had everything anyone could ever want, but he didn't see it that way. He just wanted someone to be there with him every step of the way, to have and to hold, to love and adore. Just like me. I wasn't quite sure how to respond to this statement, especially considering I realized that what he wanted was exactly what I wanted as well.

_Yet another thing we have in common._ I thought.

"I know it might not mean much to your situation, but I'm sorry Jack. It must've been terrible to feel that way for so long."

_Actually I know exactly how it feels, I've been the same way for a while too._

"Yeah, but enough about me! I want to know all about you now, Elsa."

"Hmm alright, well basically I was born with these powers and my sister and I..."

*Insert Frozen*

"The whole experience just brought Anna and I closer together, and Anna was even happier, as she had met Kristoff!" I finished, letting out a deep breath from telling the long story.

"I still can't believe you created a live snowman with your powers! That's incredible!" He exclaimed, before adding, "And how are Anna and Kristoff now?"

I laughed, "Yeah, I guess I did!" I replied excitedly. "And actually they are engaged!" I said, answering his question.

I couldn't help but let my mind drift to Anna and Kristoff's engagement. Even more than their engagement though, I thought about their love and how Anna had really found her true love this time. But slowly the happiness turned into a small wave of jealousy, followed by pangs of sadness. I felt my face fall into that of a more glum expression, but didn't bother doing anything about it. I remembered what Jack had previously said about feeling so alone, and realized that it described me perfectly. I was alone. That's all there was to it. And for some reason, I felt the urge to change that and to find a friend to confide in. Yes, I had Anna, but she was my sister and the relationship we have is different than others. I wanted a friend to trust and to cherish, someone who would make me feel whole again. Jack must have noticed the slightly upset look on my face, as he shattered my thoughts with his rumbling voice,

"Is something wrong, Elsa?" I glanced up and met his eyes, full of worry, before looking away again.

"Actually... I've just been thinking about what you had said earlier."

"Oh...well...would you like to...talk about it?" He asked awkwardly.

"Its just that...you said how you had always felt alone, and that made me remember back to my childhood and all throughout my life, as I isolated myself. I was alone too. I _ am_ alone." I explained with a deep sadness showing on my face, and as he stared at me as I spoke, I was sure he could see it in my eyes.

Before I knew it he was scooting closer and placing a comforting hand on my shoulder, before replying cooly,

"I understand how you feel being alone, since I have been for 300 years, but I hope you realize...you don't have to be."

This caught my attention and I looked up at him and met his eyes once more,

"Well I normally don't open up to people, for fear of hurting them, and vice versa. So that usually makes it hard to get close to them." I said back to him.

"Elsa, you can't hurt me." He gently took my hand and stroked my fingers before placing it on his cheek. He let go of my hand, and I kept it there on his face, while he reached up and mimicked my actions, putting his hand on my cheek. He softly stroked his thumb across my cheekbone a few times and I felt my face heat up and a blush sweep across with each stroke. I could have died in that moment and still be content, just because I was in his presence. There was just something about him that was naturally soothing and comforting, whether it be the way he spoke or the look in his eyes, and I liked it.

"See? And as for opening up...well you already did open up with me." He said softly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confusedly. I could honestly say that I didn't know what he was talking about. I hadn't done anything with him, in fact, I had just met him!

"You were able to tell me the story of your difficult childhood, and disasterous events of last year while reliving terrible memories. You also opened up to me about feeling alone, and I was able to understand that, as I know what it feels like." He explained, patiently, with a warm smile.

"Yeah, I...I guess you're right. It just seemed so...easy." I said, sounding fairly surprised at my own actions. He was right! I had actually opened up to someone besides Anna for the first time, and I hadn't done that since before mother and father died. It felt good to finally get some things off my chest and talk to someone who I knew would be understanding and accepting, but at the same time, I was scared. I was scared that I had opened up, for fear of him resenting me and leaving me to wallow in my own loneliness again.

"See? You don't have to isolate yourself, and you don't have to be afraid anymore. More importantly, you don't have to be alone, Elsa. I know exactly how you feel, because I've been through the same thing. I know I can't change the past, but the past is in the past, right?"

My heart was welling up with hope that maybe he would want to be that friend for me. That maybe he would stay and make me happy for once, instead of lonely.

"Yes i guess it it, but...Jack?" I asked, a smile slowly tugging at my lips, "What are you saying?"

He nervously ran a hand through his silvery white hair, before resting it on the back of his neck.

"I'm saying that if you need someone to talk to, about anything at all, you can let me know. I would gladly be there for you in a heartbeat, and I have never met someone so similar to me in all my years of existence, Elsa. I know what its like to be hopelessly alone and for you, I want to be there so you don't have to be. I want to be someone you can trust and open up to, I want to be someone you can rely on. I want to be a friend you can believe in."

_A friend?_ I couldn't believe what I had just heard Jack say to me, that he wanted to be there for me and to listen to me and make sure I wasn't lonely. All those years of isolating myself and building up my defensive walls, were instantly shattered by this one person.

Jack Frost had definitely just shattered my walls, and I was sure that, this time, they wouldn't be coming back up.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: New Beginnings**_

I could feel the warmth of the sun shining on my face, presumably coming in through the balcony. I slowly blinked my eyes open to see that, indeed, the doors to the balcony in my room had been left wide open, allowing the bright rays to enter. I contemplated getting up to go close the doors, thus blocking the sun and enabling me to return to my peaceful sleep again. But I decided against it, pulling the thick blue comforter over my head and curling up into a ball. I hadn't slept that well in, well, too long. I was always incredulously busy back at the palace, and the stress that followed was like a burdening plague that slowly formed into haunting nightmares. Last night, however, was surprisingly nightmare-free. Not that I was complaining, in fact I rather enjoyed the idea of maintaining a normal sleep schedule, I was just confused as to why I had felt so relaxed here. Was it perhaps the absence of work, or other queenly duties? Or simply the fact that I was in my ice palace again? No there had to be something else, I could feel it...but what? The only thing I had remembered of last nights events were that I had gone to bed in an oddly pleasant mood, and purposely left the balcony doors open. Why? With all these questions whirling around in my head, I could slowly feel myself snap back to reality and become more aware of my surroundings. I slowly sat up and stretched my arms a bit, releasing a small squeak, which I quickly recovered from by bringing my hand to cover my mouth. I heard a low chuckle come from the corner of my room and snapped my head to look over my right shoulder to find out more of this other presence. What I was greeted by surprised me at first, until the events of last night came flooding back into my mind, as if my memory had just opened the flood gates of a dam.

_ Of course! How could I have forgotten the most important thing to happen to me since my re-coronation. Wait...what? I knew having a new friend was a big deal, but...wow. I guess I never realized how much he affected me..._

There before me, lounging on the sofa in the corner of my room, was none other than my new friend and guardian, Jack Frost. I smiled at him and he smirked his signature half-smile back,

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." He rumbled.

My eyes widened visibly at his comment, because I automatically assumed it must have been later than I originally anticipated, but also because he seemed to think I was a beauty in my morning state.

"What time is it?" I asked incredulously. I also remembered that we had been up until the early hours of the morning just talking, joking, and sharing stories of our past.

He chuckled again before responding with a smile, "Don't worry, princess, it's not that late, you still have a whole day ahead of you!"

"I thought I told you last night, I am a queen!" I remarked playfully. If there was one thing I was already learning about Jack, and even picking up from him, it was his sarcastic sense of humor.

At first, Jack seemed a bit surprised at the use of sarcasm and humor in my speech, but he quickly recovered and, before I knew it, had a wide grin plastered on his face. He held his chin between his thumb and index finger, feigning deep thought, before adding,

"Hmm I guess you're right, well no matter, I like princess better! I'm going to go see what I can find for breakfast, I'll come back up to check on you, in a few." And with that, he turned and fled down the stairs to the main foyer.

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to climb out of my bed and stretch the rest of my body in the process. I glanced down and realized I had slept in the gown I had originally selected before leaving for the trip, the dark turquoise dress with the navy blue and silver detailing. With a flick of my wrist, I allowed my power to surge through my veins and release itself to begin the creation of an all new gown. I kept the idea of my first 'ice dress' in mind while I let out some of my pent up creativity, since it had been forever that I had created a dress with my powers. It was long sleeved and had a sweetheart neckline, that plunged deeper than what I would have normally worn as the queen of bodice was crafted of small triangular pieces of ice, that varied in shades of blue, most were very light in color with a few dark blue speckled in between. They became more and more sparse as they traveled down towards the skirt, which was a royal blue color. Around the middle there were silver fibers twisted into a rope-like belt that hung loosely around my waist and ended in what looked like tassels, then dropped to hang. The skirt was flowing, form fitting, and fell to the floor, trailing slightly behind me. (But the train was not nearly as long as the cape on my original ice dress.) I had crafted somewhat transparent silver heels with the same triangular shape of the ice on the bodice. I glanced in the mirror to look over my work, and even found myself slightly speechless at the handiwork of myself and my powers. I smiled at my reflection before looking up and realizing the state that my hair and face were in.

My hair, which was once in a neat updo, was now a white, knotted, dishevelled mess. I groaned as I reached for the comb in hopes to untangle the unruly lump, and began to run the comb through, wincing every time I hit a nasty knot. Once I had successfully brought back the smooth texture to my platinum blonde locks, I entangled my fingers in it and as they began brushing past each other, the french braid began to form. Once I had finished the braid I pushed my bangs back so they somewhat meshed in with the braid, but a few pieces fell down and hung in my face. Satisfied with my hair I moved onto my face, and observed the dark circles under my eyes, that had been reduced in size from the previous night, but were still evident. I went into a separate room, which I had previously deemed the bathroom, and walked over to the basin filled with water. I splashed the water against my face and immediately felt refreshed by the presence of something so cold and familiar. I dried my face gently with a towel I had laid next to the basin, and then moved on to conceal any of the imperfections on my seemingly flawless face. I applied a light silver eye shadow and finished it all off with a few quick swipes of mascara.

I took one last look at myself in the mirror, before heading back to my room, and when I entered, Jack was standing out on the balcony. Upon hearing the click of my heels against the ice floor beneath my feet, he spun around to look at me, and when he did, his jaw dropped. I was surprised at his reaction, being as I has only just cleaned up a bit from when he had last seem me, but his stare held for a quite a while and that's when things became a bit awkward. I nervously directed my gaze to the floor before me, and began to wring my hands and fidget with my fingers, a nervous habit I had picked up from concealing my powers.

_Oh god, he's gawking at me...is there something wrong with my dress? Did my mascara smear?_

I cleared my throat awkwardly before interrupting his day dream," Uh, Jack?"

He never stopped staring at me and just dreamily replied, "Mhmm?"

"Um, Jack...you're staring."

As if someone had just slapped him across the face, he snapped back to reality and recomposed himself...well tried to recompose himself, that is.

"Oh...um...sorry, I ah...hmm...well..." He stuttered, while rubbing the back of his neck.

I couldn't help but laugh at his nervous fumbling for words, it was pretty cute, and I stepped closer to him, directing his gaze from the ground back up to my face. He made eye contact with me and he seemed instantly calmed by my turquoise eyes, which were filled with humor and comfort. He took a deep breath and sighed before trying again,

"Sorry, its just..." He trailed off, but I smiled at him, reassuring him to continue, "...you look incredibly beautiful."

This time it was my turn to have my jaw drop, as I was surprised by his words, to say the least. I opened my mouth to try and speak, but I found I couldn't produce any sound to form a sentence. Did he really think I was beautiful? That might be a little more than just a friendly compliment, but I decided not to read too much into it, being as I was extremely grateful either way.

"Well, thank you, Jack." I managed to say, while smiling uncontrollably. We both looked at each other and silently tried to figure out what the other was thinking.

_He looked pretty handsome as well...especially the way the sunlight was accenting his sharp features and making his eyes pop even more._

His face had an even more rosy appearance to it as the sunlight streamed in and shone on his face. His eyes seemed to appear more silver than blue, and the small snowflake pattern I had noticed on his irises earlier, had almost entirely disappeared. But they were still the most beautiful I had ever seen.

We stood there in silence, just observing each other and, occasionally, locking eyes and remaining that way for a while.

_What is he thinking about?_ I wondered.

Our thoughts slowly came to an end and we both broke apart from each others gaze and looked to the floor. I began nervously rubbing my arm, while he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. He eventually broke the seemingly never-ending silence,

"So...we have a whole day ahead of us! What do ya wanna do today?" He asked.

I pondered this for a moment, but only to come up empty with ideas. I had always been alone and, honestly, had no idea how to occupy my time other than with work.

"Um...I'm not sure, actually. I never do anything nowadays besides work and attending to my queenly duties." I replied sadly.

He frowned at my glum answer, then comfortingly put his hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at him again. He smiled reassuringly at me,

"Don't worry, I teach you how to have fun! Afterall, that is my center." He said, winking at me.

"Okay, well then in that case, what shall we do today?" I asked, now genuinely curious. I wanted to be able to let loose and have fun like I was a child again, like I did before I...before I hurt Anna. The thought of that still sent shivers down my spine and brought an uncomfortable feeling to me, guilt. I shook off all those memories and feelings as I glanced over at Jack who was currently racking his brain of what we could do. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and his face lit up,

"I got it!" He beamed, as he began bouncing up and down in place like a child, and I giggled. "How about we go outside and play in the snow? Ya know like build a snowman, have a snowball fight, go ice skating, the whole nine yards!" He explained excitedly.

"That sounds..." I began, unsure at first, before glancing over to see his hopeful expression, "...wonderful!"

"Great!" He fist pumped the air and jumped in place in excitement. I laughed at him, once again seeing his unusually childish behavior in action.

"C'mon follow me!"

And with that I followed him out the doors of my bedroom, down the main staircase, into the foyer and finally, out the front doors into the cold, crisp air that greeted us outside. I took a deep breath in, and glanced over to see that he was doing the same thing, and I mentally smiled to myself. We really do have a lot in common. He opened his eyes to see me smiling at him and he smiled back, grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards the staircase that led down to the snow covered ground below us. I bounded down the steps as he flew down the side gracefully, doing flips mid-air here and there, before meeting me at the bottom.

We glanced at each other, both smiling still, as he created a snowflake in his palm and released it into the air, causing a few smaller snowflakes to be produced. I smirked at him and created my signature snowflake before throwing it into the air and creating a rapid flurry of fresh snow. The flurries fell from the sky and collected all around us forming a new layer of soft, powdery snow that was perfect for building a snowman. I, however, had other plans for it, and bent down to begin forming a snowball to hurl at the unexpecting Jack. I was about to turn the snowball to solid ice under my fingertips, when I was hit in the back by something that was cold and hard. I whirled around to find the culprit, nearly doubled over, holding his sides and shaking from violent bouts of laughter.

_Ooh, Jack Frost, you are going to get it!_

**_A/N: Hey everyone! I am so so so sorry that it has been so long since I updated, but I have been very busy with family matters :( I will hopefully get back to my regular updating schedule, so bear with me! _**

**_Oh, and I also apologize for there not being an A/N on the last chapter but it was kinda rushed, and I forgot :( _**

**_Anyways, just a little bit of Jelsa fluff here in this chapter, but I promise that the actual storyline will start to pick up within the next few chapters :) _**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome!_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7: Lessons in Fun**_

**_Jack's POV _**

I had brought Elsa down and out of the grand ice palace, and over to a picturesque frozen pond that was surrounded by snow covered evergreens. It truly was a beautiful sight...much like the one in front of me. Elsa was standing there, creating a snowflake to mimick my own, still looking as graceful and regal as ever. I felt my eyes grow wide at the sight of her creating snow for us to use, as if it was nothing! She delicately tossed her snowflake into the air, and watched with admiration as small flurries of snow began to fall from the sky. As it collected in a new, fresh layer around us, I immediately thought of what I could do to start our day of fun. Giving in to my more mischievous side, I decided to start a snowball fight with the unsuspecting Ice Queen. I bent down to grab a handful of snow and gently blew on it to form a perfect ball, while enchanting it at the same time. Elsa was bent over as well, most likely trying to do the same thing I was, and I took this opportunity to strike while she wasn't looking. I drew back my arm and released the snowball, sending it flying into the air, straight towards Elsa. It hit her directly on the back, right between her shoulder blades.

_Haha! Bullseye!_

I immediately started laughing uncontrollably, so much so, that I had to use a nearby tree for support. I was nearly doubled over, and my sides were aching from seeing the priceless look on her face as she whirled around to see me. I could see her face change slowly from confusion, to anger and determination, as a mischievous smirk plastered itself across her lips. Suddenly, my fits of laughter were interrupted by the force of something cold hitting my face. As the remaining bits of snow slowly fell off of my face, I opened my eyes to see Elsa laughing hysterically, as I had just been.

_God, her laugh is the most beautiful sound...I want to hear it more often!_

Once she had ceased her bouts of laughter,it was silently confirmed between the two of us, that a battle had just been started. I ran to one side of the pond, while she understood, and ran to the other side. With one swift movement of my staff, I had created two large piles of ammo for both myself and Elsa at either ends of our makeshift battlefield. Elsa took this a step further, as she raised both her arms and created four tall walls around us, like an arena of sorts.

"Are you ready?" I called out to her.

"Bring it on, Frost!" She replied with a confidence that I hadn't seen from her before, but I just smirked in reply before sending a wave of flying snowballs towards her. She swiftly dodged the first wave with ease, and we just went on and on, back and forth sending all we could to each other in hopes to gain the upper hand. She was really good at defending herself and blocking my attacks, but as I sent more numerous and forceful waves towards her, she resorted to crafting a shield of ice to protect herself.

"Hey no fair, that's cheating!" I whined. She chuckled before replying, "I'm playing by the rules I write!"

_Oh, two can play at that game!_

"Then in that case..." I called back to her, as I leapt into the sky, bringing with me a whole bunch of snowballs. She gasped as she saw where I was, hovering directly over her, and I simply cast my staff in a downwards motion, sending the snowballs to rain down on her in attack. She shrieked as they came speeding towards her like little white bullets, and tried desperately to form a force field of ice around herself. She was too late, however, and the snowballs pelted her to the ground, continuing to pile on top of her, even after she'd been subdued. I laughed at the sight before me, Elsa being entirely buried beneath a huge pile of destroyed snowballs, and watched for her to come up, flushed with anger. To my surprise, however, she didn't come up.

_Geez, how long has she been down there?_

I hesitantly flew down to land beside the large pile, which was taller than I was, and tried to call out for her.

"Elsa?"

No response.

"Elsa, c'mon this isn't funny!"

Still nothing.

_Oh god. Oh god. What did I do?_

I immediately began furiously digging through the snow like a mad dog, trying to find Elsa. After what seemed like forever, I finally found her limp and cold body, well colder than normal at least. My heart stopped. She wasn't moving, and in fact, it looked as though she wasn't breathing. I instinctively took her into my arms, cradling her like a baby, and put my ear to her chest, listening for a heartbeat.

_Oh thank god! There's a pulse and she's faintly breathing._

As I was about to pull away, I felt the unmistakeable cold impact of a snowball against the back of my head. I sat up confusedly in shock and looked at Elsa who was now trying to suppress her giggling. Her hand, which she had used to smash the snowball against the back of my head, now fell to rest on my shoulder, and she sat up to face me. Her giggling had subsided when she leaned in and looked me in the eye before saying in a low voice that was almost seductive,

"Gotcha, Jack Frost." She winked at me, and I was still rendered speechless from her little escapade.

_Wow, she really is something else..._

As I sat there, with Elsa in my arms, and her staring into my eyes, I couldn't help but think about how incredible this woman before me truly is. She had originally come across so cold and empty, but now that I had cracked her shell and shattered her walls, she had an amazingly playful personality!

I cleared my throat, as I struggled to piece together a coherent response,

"I can't...I can't believe you did that! Elsa, you scared me to death! I...I thought I had hurt you and...and..."She laughed and interrupted me by placing a small, delicate finger to my lips and silencing me.

"Oh hush, Jack, I was only having a little fun! Surely _you_ should know how to have fun..." She raised an eyebrow at me on the last part implying that I, the Guardian of Fun, couldn't take a joke.

"Of course _I_ know how to have fun! Its practically in my blood!" I defended, which only caused her to laugh again, much to my enjoyment.

_I love hearing her laugh! Its like a chorus of angels or dainty little bells ringing in my ears._

She stood up and brushed herself off, before extending a hand to me, helping me up to my feet, "Well then, why don't we go ice skating instead...since you can't handle a snowball fight with me!"

I grinned at her offer and replied, "Sure, sounds great! Oh, and I believe _you_ were the one buried under a huge pile of snow. So...I win!"

She opened her mouth to retort in her defense, but stopped herself and playfully punched me in the arm. "Mhmm, whatever." She muttered, rolling her eyes.

We both shared the task of cleaning up the huge mess we had just made on top of the frozen pond. Truth be told, I was kind of surprised the pond had held our weight, as well as the weight of all the snow we had been flinging at each other. Mentally, I was somewhat kicking myself that I hadn't checked the state of the pond and the thickness of the ice, just in case. I couldn't even imagine what I would've done if Elsa got hurt, although with the little stunt she pulled earlier, I sorta knew how it would feel.

_Absolutely, gut-wrenchingly, awful._

I turned my attention back to the pond, and more specifically, the snow I was moving off of it using my powers. One of the perks of being able to manipulate snow, was being able to clean up all the messes I made, which admittedly were a lot. With as much of our mess cleaned up as possible, she turned to ask me,

"So, I suppose we would need ice skates, don't you think?"

I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my neck, "Oops, I guess I forgot about that, huh?"

She laughed and said, "No problem."

Next thing I knew, I was staring intently as she twirled her fingers and crafted two pairs of ice skates for her and I.

_She never ceases to amaze me..._

"Whoa, I never knew you could craft clothes out of your powers!" I gawked.

She blushed, before answering quietly, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Jack."

I thought about what she had just said as each of us laced up our skates, Elsa leaving her silvery heels neatly beside her. I was confused as to what she meant by what she said, because we had been up all last night telling each other of our pasts and more about ourselves in general. This also concerned me, because what if she was right? What if I didn't know her as well as I'd like to think I did? I was pretty sure I had broken down her walls, or at least a majority of them anyway, and I was now determined to assure her that she could fully open up to me.

"Well I'm going to change that, but for now..." I motioned to our feet that had been recently adorned with the new skates, "...we are going to have some more fun."

I smiled at her, she smiled back, and with that I pulled her onto the ice in one smooth movement. We spent some time just skating around on our own for a while, before I glanced over at Elsa. I had never learned to do anything particularly fancy in my lifetime, but Elsa...Elsa was amazing. She twirled around in circles, and occasionally jumped and twisted off the ice as well, all with the utmost ease. At some point I had stopped skating altogether, just to admire her letting herself go through her intricate dances. I hadn't realized this, however, until she stopped and looked at me startled, before speaking to me calmly,

"Jack...you're staring again..." She said with a gentle smile that made me want to run over to her and hold her in my arms, never letting go.

_What did I just say?_

I smirked at her before adding, "Well I wouldn't be staring, if you weren't such a beautiful skater."

She immediately seemed shocked and a heated blush crept up her cheeks, spreading throughout her face. She turned away to avoid my gaze, but I strode over to her and took her hand,

"Would you mind teaching me how to dance like that?" I asked mischievously, knowing all too well that she was still thouroughly embarrassed from my comment earlier.

"I...uhh...ummm...I guess..." She stammered. I gave her a reassuring smile and she seemed to relax a bit, slowly becoming more comfortable with the situation.

She took hold of my free hand and placed it on her waist, just above the small of her back. She then placed her hand gently on my shoulder and raised her other hand, that was intertwined with mine. She took a few small strides backwards, and I followed, and as she took strides towards me, I moved back to mirror her movements. Before long, we were skating around the ice in a sort of waltz, dancing with each other to our hearts content. We were both lost in thought, when suddenly, Elsa tripped over a log that had been frozen in the pond, partially above the surface. She gasped and started falling backwards, but I quickly caught her, leaning forward to brace myself as I did.

"Whoa, its okay, i got you...I'll never let anything happen to you." I whispered to her, in an attempt to calm her rapid breathing. It worked and she looked up at me through wide eyes, which quickly softened and had a look of gratitude in them. I smiled down at her warmly, and she returned it. It wasn't until then that I noticed how close we really were, our faces mere inches apart from one another. I took in her beauty up close and found that her beautiful blue eyes had a snowflake-like pattern on the irises, just like mine. And the way the light was glinting off of them, they appeared a brighter blue than any ocean I'd ever seen. It was also then, as i was gazing deeply into her eyes, that I realized the sun was setting, meaning it was time to take my Ice Queen back to her palace.

_Wait...**MY**_ _Ice Queen?_

I coughed awkwardly, "Well then," I gently placed her back into her upright position, safely on the ground," I think it might be time we head back to the palace."

She only nodded in response, the same look in her eye remained, but her overall expression seemed still shocked.

We walked side by side in silence for a while, making our way back to the ice palace, and my thoughts were running rampant in my mind. I was worried about what she was thinking about, and if she thought my comment back there was weird or creepy. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable around me, or just uncomfortable in general. I cared too much about her. And that was another thing weighing on my mind, that I cared a lot for her, possibly in a way that was more than just friendly. And that made me nervous, scared even. I had spent so much time being alone and accepting the fact that no one could ever see me, and that no one would ever love me, but now? I'm not really sure how I felt now. Well, actually that was a lie, I knew exactly how I felt about Elsa, and I also knew that I would overcomplicate things by trying to figure out if her feelings were reciprocated. So for now, I would be strictly a friend for her, a guardian for her. Elsa broke my thoughts with her sweet, gentle voice,

"Jack, about what you said back there..." She trailed off as unconfidence crept into her voice and across her features.

"Yeah, I...I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable back there...I just..."

"Did you mean it?" She interrupted me before I could finish, but it wasn't in a rude manner, it was more of curiosity getting the better of her. She stopped walking and turned to look me in the eyes, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. By this time, the sun had finished setting, and the moonlight was now the only source of light left. The way she looked in the moonlight was just...breathtaking.

"Yes, Elsa, I did mean it. I just wanted you to know, that you count on me to be there for you." I said smiling back at her. I was still nervous for her reaction, until I saw a smile slowly spread across her lips, and was immediately relieved.

With that we turned to continue walking back to the palace, traveling once again in silence. This silence, however, was a bit more relaxed than before as we both had a bit more of an understanding of things. As we approached the stairway to the entrance I noticed how tired Elsa appeared as she slowly, almost painfully, trudged up the stairs, one by one. I smirked to myself and ran up behind her, sweeping her into my arms, bridal style, in one fair move. She gasped at my sudden actions and her sudden change of movement, before turning to me defiantly,

"Jack, I have two feet that are very well capable of taking me up to my room."

I chuckled, "Yeah, but I figured this might be easier for you."

She just rolled her eyes, but obliged silently, signaling me to continue the journey to her bedroom. I brought her through the front double doors by kicking them open, then walked up the grand staircase up to her bedroom. Upon my arrival at her door, she squirmed in my arms showing that she wanted to be put down, and I gently set her down. She turned to walk into her room, and I didn't want to invade so I awkwardly waited by her door, as if seeking approval. She saw me waiting there and giggled before motioned for me to come in, and I did as asked of me.

"Wait here while I go change, okay?"

I nodded and stayed put where I was for a few moments, before heading over to the balcony. I looked out and saw all of the mountain below us, including the spot where we had just spent most of our day. I couldn't help but smile thinking about today and all the fun we had had together. From what she described, it always seemed like she was too busy to have any fun and just let loose, so I was glad I could help her with that. I then stared intently at the moon, holding in tons of questions I wanted to ask him about Elsa. I decided I could do that at a later time.

I turned around to go back into the bedroom, at just about the same time Elsa came out of, what I assumed was, her bathroom. She had changed her attire to something more comfortable and prepared herself for sleep by taking off her makeup and so on. I still couldn't help but immediately be captivated by her beauty, and this time it was her natural and relaxed beauty. She was wearing a silky light blue night gown that hugged against her hips, ever so slightly, accentuating her slim figure. Her hair was removed from its tousled braid and now flowed over her shoulders and down her back in soft white waves. She walked over to sit on her bed and patted the spot next to her, asking me to come over to her.

_What was she asking? Was she asking me to stay the night here with her?_

I shook off those thoughts as I stepped over to her bedside with a smile, sitting down beside her.

"You look pretty tired, you should get some rest." I said softly.

She nodded, then added while rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn, "Yeah, I guess having so much fun with you must have taken more out of me than I thought."

I chuckled, "It does take a lot out of ya, doesn't it? Well, I shall see you in the morning my dear Ice Queen." I stood up, to walk over to the balcony and leave, but was surprised when Elsa grabbed my hand, causing me to turn back to face her.

"Did you leave last night?" She asked curiously, and somewhat troubled.

"Uhm yeah, I did..." I replied awkwardly. It was the truth, but it felt so awkward to say in the conversation. She pondered my words for a bit, which worried me, but also made me extremely curious. She began to nervously fumble with her fingers before asking me,

"Would...um...would you stay here with me? Of course, that is if you want to...and don't mind staying." She composed herself before continuing, "I just feel safer with you here."

She was incredibly nervous, I could tell from her fidgeting and unusual stuttering, which made me nervous as well. But as soon as I heard what she was asking I was ecstatic! I had been, deep deep down, hoping that she would ask me that question. All I had wanted was to be someone she could trust to keep her safe, and from what she was saying, and asking, she did.

"Of course, I will." I couldn't help but smile at her, as she beamed back at me in relief.

"Thank you so much, Jack! Hmm, but where would you stay?" She thought out loud.

I gestured to the sofa in the corner of the room, shrugging nonchalantly, "Eh, don't worry about me, the sofa is fine."

"No, Jack, that's horrible! What kind of person would I be to make my guest sleep on the sofa?"

I just chuckled back at her, "Elsa, don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She gave up, seeing as this was an argument she wouldn't win, pulled back her covers and lay on her side on her bed. I pulled her covers over her, up to her shoulders, and she spoke up as I was about to walk away.

"Jack...thank you. For everything." She smiled up at me.

"It was no problem at all." I replied back.

"Goodnight, Jack."

I leaned over, placing my hands on either side of her, and kissed her forehead,

"Goodnight, Elsa."

**_A/N: Ahhh Jelsa cuteness! So much fluff! But as promised, things will start to pick up next chapter with the story line._**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome!_**

**_Oh and when I say suggestions are welcome, I mean it! Seriously, if any of y'all have ideas for this story, then please feel free to let me know! :)_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8: Sleepless Sisters**_

_**Anna's POV**_

Elsa had been gone for almost two days already, and things had been going perfectly fine! Well that is, except for a strange document that Kristoff and I had received yesterday. It was unmarked, save for the seal that was stamped on the front, and had been delivered personally from a messenger of the said sender. When I had asked this messenger of his employer's whereabouts and tried to acquire more information about the mysterious sender, he only said "Not to fret, dear princess, the information will be revealed all in due time." After that he turned and fled.

I guess you could say that I was a naturally curious person, but this little incident was pulling at my curiosity, making it almost unbearable not knowing. But I figured that Elsa would be back tomorrow evening, and that she would handle that upon her return. Truth be told, I was somewhat disappointed that Elsa's trip was already coming coming to an end. Don't get me wrong, I love Elsa, and I missed her terribly while she was gone, but this was sort of a big step for me. In her absence, I took over all of her responsibilities, and more than anything, showed that I was capable of being a responsible adult. I was still young so most everyone, including all the citizens of Arendelle, saw me as a child who couldn't accomplish much, and sometimes I lived in my sisters shadow according to them.

It was hard to hear, especially considering I wasn't the one who isolated myself, made a public appearance, then ran off and abandoned them...but that was the past! Since then, everyone has moved on from that and Elsa is now celebrated for her brilliance and efficiency as queen. Especially me. After the Great Thaw, I couldn't help but love my sister even more than I already had, mostly because I got to see her true personality. Elsa really is a caring person, although she can often come off as cold and guarded, deep down she has all the love in the world to give. And I know now, that all those years, knowing that she couldn't control herself, she was only trying to protect me, because she loved me. And after the whole ordeal last year, she's shown her love in more direct ways to myself and to Kristoff, as well as everyone else around her, like when she approved our marriage.

When Kristoff first brought up the idea of marriage, he was already nervous enough talking about the subject with me, which was cute. But the thing he was worried about most? My sister. He was deathly terrified that my sister wouldn't approve of our marriage being as, yes, I was still very young, and we hadn't exactly known each other too long. But it was definitely no situation like with Hans...I actually loved Kristoff, and I knew that this was actual true love. And, much to Kristoff's surprise, so did Elsa, as she happily approved of our marriage. I still remembered when Kristoff and I had gone to ask her for her blessing on our engagement; Kristoff was a nervous wreck, and I was trying desperately to calm him down. When Elsa approved of our marriage, I saw a look in her eye that held many emotions; love, kindness, excitement, happiness, and longing. It was then that I realized how Elsa secretly wanted someone to love as well, being as all it took was that one look from her.

I had found my happy ending, and now I just wanted Elsa to find hers, with someone who understood her and cherished her. I had brought this up to her many times and even suggested we bring in suitors from neighboring kingdoms, but she always refused, saying that she was happy caring for Arendelle. I'm sure she was happy as queen, but there is a certain happiness that love brings, that she can't get by ruling over a kingdom. She eventually allowed me to bring in a few suitors, and of course, they were immediately amazed by her, but neither of them seemed to click for her. I felt bad because I felt that I might have discouraged her from finding love after those two mishaps, but the third times the charm, right?

I sighed aloud, knowing my sister was too stubborn for me to convince her to try again.

I had been walking around the castle, aimlessly basically, and now found myself in the gardens. I always liked coming here when I was younger, because our mother had a special corner where we would plant roses, lilies, and azaleas together. I smiled to myself remembering her sweetly giving me instructions on how the properly plant them, and care for them. I heard a twig snap from being the hedges, and was immediately broken from all thought and was now alert.

Something grabbed me from behind, and pulled me backwards making me land on something hard, but not the ground. I heard laughter coming from a male voice, and turned around to see a certain, trouble-making blonde.

"Kristoff! What is wrong with you?! I thought someone was kidnapping me!" I scolded, trying my very best to remain angry.

He choked back another fit of laughter before responding, "Oh trust me, they'd bring you right back!"

I punched him in the arm before climbing off of him, very clumsily might I add, and standing to turn my back to him, arms crossed.

"Aw c'mon Anna, I was just kidding." He whined while moving towards me. I could hear his footsteps advancing, so I started walking away from him, mimicking his movements. He was faster however, and he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into him, whirling me around to face him as well. I kept my best 'angry face' aimed straight at him and glared at him.

"I'm sorry if I made you mad, Anna." He still had a small smile on his lips, but I could see in his eyes that he was as sincere as can be.

"Hmm, okay. But that wasn't nice! I was actually scared it was a bad guy! Or worse...Hans." I shuddered at the mention of his name, I still wasn't entirely over his utter betrayal. Kristoff stiffened at his name as well, and I knew he would be upset I brought it up.

"Anna, I told you, that sick bastard is rotting away in a jail cell all the way back in the Southern Isles. He won't be back to hurt you ever again, mostly because I'll never let him." He said tightening his grip around me.

I smiled sweetly up at him, and brought my hand up to his cheek, "I know, I know. Thank you, Kristoff." He placed his thumb on my chin and tilted my face up before pressing his lips against mine, in a short, sweet, meaningful kiss.

When we pulled apart he said, "I don't know what I'd ever do without you, Anna. You mean so much to me, and I love you."

"I love you too, Kristoff." He responded in another kiss, which I happily returned, before pulling away again to return to the castle.

"Now c'mon we don't wanna miss dinner!" I exclaimed, tugging on his shirt sleeve.

He chuckled, but followed alongside me,

"'Course not! And I think tonight they have chocolate for dessert."

"Yay!" I squealed in happiness.

We walked hand in hand back through the gardens and into the castle. Once inside, we navigated our way down the back hallway, and into the hall containing the dining room. We walked over to the massive table, and selected two chairs on the end right across from each other. I never did understand why we needed such a large table for the three of us, but it was the same table we had when our parents were still alive, as they would occasionally have company over. Which gave me an idea...

Dinner tonight consisted of various fish and vegetables, including carrots, much to Kristoff's delight. And he was, in fact, correct about the dessert menu for tonight which was filled with lovely chocolatey creations. As we sat eating our dinner in silence, save for the servants bustling in and out of the kitchen, I brought up my little idea to Kristoff.

"I think we should invite some company over to the castle, for a little dinner party!"

He nearly choked on his carrot, "What? Are you crazy? I mean no one has come to visit Arendelle since your parents' passing, and even now, you would need Elsa's approval."

I thought about what he had said for a moment before answering, "Hmm well, it might take some convincing, but I have a feeling Elsa would agree." I concluded, already planning to ask her upon her return.

"Well don't you think she might want to deal with that mysterious letter first? And who would you even invite? A lot of people are still a little wary of Arendelle after the blowout last year."

He was right, Elsa already had a lot of stress with being queen as it was, and then there was the mysterious letter that she would have to deal with.

"I got it! I can plan the whole thing and make it as stress free as possible for her! Maybe I could even send out word to the kingdoms to bring a few of their eligible royalty and-"

Kristoff interrupted me before I could finish my excited ranting, "Again with the suitors? It didn't end so well last time we tried to intervene in Elsa's love life."

"Oh hush, Kristoff. Stop being so negative! I've already made up my mind, I'm going to ask Elsa for approval, organize the whole thing, and it will be perfect!"

He opened his mouth to protest my decision, but shut it, knowing all too well that I had already made up my mind, and to try and argue with me was pointless. I stood from my seat, finished with my dinner and satisfied with my idea, and began to head towards my room excitedly, almost entirely forgetting about Kristoff.

"Anna! Wait!" I stopped and turned around to see Kristoff running behind me, trying to catch up to me.

"Here, let me walk you to your room." He said, slightly out of breath, but still smiling. He had been staying here at the castle with us, in his own room, and often times liked to stay with me until late at night.

"Of course!" I replied happily.

I was still extremely excited about my idea and all the plans that had to be made. When we approached my room, Kristoff spoke up,

"You know, I think what you're trying to do is really cool, and I hope that everything works out. I know how much you like helping Elsa and pitching in your ideas." He said supportively.

I just looked at him and smiled, he always knew how to be comforting and supportive, even if he thought the plan was a total flop and would fail.

"It means a lot to me that you support me through this. Would you like to come in?" I said gesturing into my room.

He held up his hand in refusal, "No, I have to head out soon, and I just wanted to come here to say goodbye."

In all my excitement, I had almost forgotten Kristoff was leaving tonight to go check up on his ice business up near the north mountain, ironically where my sister was. He said he didn't trust those fools who were running it in his absence, and that they had practically begged him to come help them. I understood entirely why he had to leave, but I still didn't like the idea of being here all alone. My mood was instantly dampened.

"Oh, okay. Well please be safe on your trip, Kristoff." I said wrapping my arms around his neck, as he wound his around my waist, pulling me closer. He pecked my lips before answering, "I will, don't worry."

We stood in my doorway for a while, just enjoying being in each other arms, before a servant came down the hallway.

"Sir, they are asking to leave soon, considering we are quickly losing daylight and it is a lengthy trip." He said.

Kristoff turned to me, "Ah, that's my cue. I'll be back as soon as I can, shouldn't be more than a few days."

"Okay, but I'll miss you terribly." I replied sadly. He lifted my chin with his thumb, " I'll be back soon, I promise."

And with that he turned and fled down the hall following the servant who had come to fetch him. I watched him walk down the hallway before I went into my room and sat in front of the window. From where my bedroom was, I could see Kristoff climbing into the sleigh, that Elsa has gotten him last year, that had Sven at the front ready to carry his friend to his destination. He saw me in the window and waved, before giving Sven the command to take off, and he disappeared into the trees. Knowing that I was all alone, and that there was no one here except myself, I felt extremely vulnerable.

_Is this how Elsa felt all those years?_

I decided to just go to bed early, considering tomorrow would be an eventful day with Elsa's return and the dinner plans. The dinner plans! I felt my mood lift a bit as I thought about the dinner plans again, as well as some other plans that I had almost forgotten about. My wedding. In three months Kristoff and I would be married, and that was certainly a day that I could hardly wait for. With all these thoughts of happiness and new beginnings, I drifted off to sleep.

_ I was struggling to walk out on the frozen fjord, fighting to find Kristoff and attempt to save my life. I was desperately scanning the area before me, but the blizzard was so fierce and strong, I couldn't see anything.  
_

_"Kristoff!" I attempted yelling, but it only came out barely above a whisper._

_"Anna!" I heard a faint scream from what seemed to be in front of me, "Anna!"_

_"Kristoff!" Over here, Kristoff! Please, help me!" I tried yelling and continued to fight my way to where the voice was coming from._

_Suddenly, the blizzard came to an abrupt halt, and the sight I saw before me made me sick._

_There lying on the cold, hard ice was my sister, bleeding intensely and slowly dying. Standing above her, with a blood-stained sword in hand, was none other than the dirty rat himself...Hans._

_"Elsa! Oh my god Elsa!"_

_"Anna! This is all your fault! I told you to leave me alone, and you couldn't even do that much!" Tears were streaming down Elsa's face as she hissed those hurtful words at me. There was a strange looking boy with white hair kneeling next to Elsa, crying helplessly, begging for someone named Manny to help her. He glared at me and screamed,_

_"You...you did this! She's dying because of you!"_

_I felt my eyes tearing up, at their words and at the fact that she was dying and I couldn't help her. I rushed over to try to help her, but Hans stepped in my way, laughing maniacally, and blocked my view of my sister._

_"Hans," I growled, "you won't get away with this!"_

_"Oh, but won't I?" He laughed in my face, and as I stepped towards him to hit him, he swiftly tripped me and I fell to the ground._

_"Anna!" I heard Kristoff's furious voice._

_Hans only continued laughing like a madman as Kristoff came barreling behind him to attack him. All of a sudden, Hans turned around and swung his arm holding his sword, piercing Kristoff's abdomen._

_"No!" I screamed "Kristoff! No!"_

_He fell to his knees and brought his hands to feel his wound, then staring at them covered in blood. He then looked up at me, and his expression of fear was replaced with one of anger._

_"Elsa's right, Anna! This is all your fault! You were the one that found me, and dragged me into this, when I had nothing to do with it!"_

_"No...I...I didn't mean...no it wasn't...I..." I tried to form a sentence, but the tears were coming down too quickly and I felt like I couldn't breathe._

_Both my sister and Kristoff were lying there, suffering and dying, in front of me and it was all my fault._

_"You see, my dear? It was always your fault, Elsa just got blamed for it. You are a sick person, Anna." Hans cooed._

_He was right. I couldn't even deny it. I could only sit there and sob while Elsa screamed and took her last breath, the white haired boy crying out in aguish as she did. Kristoff sank down and lay on his back, gripping his wound, also breathing his last._

_And then it was just Hans and I, as he stepped closer to me, I attempted to stand to my feet, but to no avail. I fell back down and continued to weep, and didn't even budge when I felt the cold tip of Hans' blade press against my throat._

_At this point I just wanted him to flick his wrist and kill me. I was so foolish, I had caused this all. I deserved to die. The last thing I heard was Hans' evil laughter before I..._

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily and sweating. I was extremely freaked out, to say the least, from that awful nightmare. I glanced around the room to reassure myself that I was still in my room, and not on the fjord as I had just been in my nightmare.

I was, indeed, in my room but something was different. The shadows in each corner of the room seemed to be slowly creeping towards the center of the room and towards me. I stared intently at them and gasped as a figure, who seemed to have been formed from the shadows, came to stand before me. He was looking down at the ground, before he abruptly lifted his head and snapped his eyes open to meet mine, smiling at me. "Who the hell are you?" I asked, fearful of the answer I might, or might not get.

_**Elsa's POV **_

That had easily been one of the best days of my life, and I was actually really glad I had spent it with Jack Frost. I was really glad I had met him, actually. And for the first time, letting down my walls never felt so good! I was able to relax and have fun and be myself with him, I didn't have to conceal and I allowed myself to feel. It was unfortunate, however, that we only had one day left to spend alone and free together, but I figured he would make the most of it again just like he had today. As I was thinking about Jack, his mischievous ways, and those eyes...I felt myself start to doze off.

_I slowly blinked my eyes open to try and observe my surroundings. Was I in a...prison cell? I quickly got up to make my way to a window on one of the walls, when my shoulders we're jerked back, sending shooting pains down my arms. I looked down and saw my hands were bound in metal cuffs, but I continued to look out the window. _

_It was a massive, raging blizzard that only I could have created. _

_"Oh god no...what have I done?" I whispered to myself. _

_The door to the cell swing open to reveal Hans, the man my sister was engaged to recently. He approached me and I, skeptically, kept my distance from him._

_ "Elsa, you have to stop this winter." He asked, almost pleadingly. _

_"Hans I...I cant." I said ashamed, putting my head down. _

_"Well you have to! You will kill us all, if you don't!" He said, the anger rising in his voice. _

_I just looked up at him with sad eyes, "Hans I cant...I...I don't know how." _

_That just triggered his anger even more, and he slapped me across the face. I pulled back in horror, sinking to the corner, grasping my cheek. This was the guy my sister loved? _

_"Dammit Elsa! Your sister still hasn't returned, and no one can find her in this blizzard!" My head jerked up at the sound of those words. My sister was in danger because of me and I had to find out a way to stop all this for her. But how? _

_Hans sighed, still furious, "Look, I can try to look again, but Elsa, if she dies...just know that it's all your fault." He said bitterly._

_ With that he left and slammed the heavy door behind him, leaving me alone in the cell to sob helplessly. And I did. _

_It wasn't until I heard the crackling of frost spreading across glass,that I looked up, and over to the window. Frost was rapidly growing from the window and throughout the ceiling, covering nearly every inch of the tiny room. I gasped as the concrete walls of the cell started to crack, splitting as they got bigger._

_ "Stand back, Elsa!" I heard a familiar voice yell. Immediately after I heard that, the wall with the window burst and shattered into many large chunks. When everything settled, I saw the familiar white haired boy extending a hand to me through the now gaping hole in the wall. _

_"C'mon, we don't have a lot of time!"_

_ I looked back down at the cuffs that bound my hands and closed my eyes, concentrating all my power on breaking them. When I opened them, they were covered in a thin layer of ice, and I heard voices shouting down the hallway. I yanked and tugged as hard as I could to get them to release, and finally broke free. I ran out of the cell and into the raging blizzard with Jack by my side, as the guards entered the now empty cell. _

_Then, the whole scene changed. _

_I was now out in the mode of the frozen fjord, and Jack was nowhere to be seen. _

_"Jack?" I called out. _

_I then heard laughter that chilled my bones and sent shivers down my spine. It was extremely hard to see, but I could make out the figure of someone approaching me. Then I turned to the left and saw another figure advancing towards me, and turning to my right I saw another. As the one directly in front of me came closer, it turned out to be none other than...Hans. I turned to my left, then my right and saw that they were...Hans? _

_Wait, there were three of him? _

_All three of them had a certain evil presence with them, and their eyes all appeared gold and silver. At this point I was extremely confused, and even more terrified, so I did the only sensible thing. I defended myself._

_ I sent one blast of ice shards toward the Hans in front if me, then separated my arms and shot individually at the other two at my sides. I felt somewhat relieved that all three collapsed and went down, meaning I could get closer and investigate. As I stepped closer, however, I gasped in horror at the sight before me. _

_The three figures had changed and were not Hans anymore. They were Anna, Kristoff...and Jack. _

_I had just struck all three of them with my powers, and now they were all dying. _

_I ran over to Anna first, and fell to her side, where she was collapsed in sheer pain. _

_"Anna! No!" _

_"Get away from me!" She hissed, "How could you do that to me? All I wanted was to help you!" She was practically screaming through her tears and visible pain. _

_"Anna I...I didn't... I didn't mean... " I tried, but she was refusing to listen. _

_"Get away from me!" Then she began turning hard and cold as, what appeared to be ice, slowly spread from her limbs inwards. She was turning to solid ice. I closed my eyes and let the stream of tears, that were gathering in my eyes fall. When I opened them again she was solid ice. _

_She was dead. _

_I began sobbing but turned to see Kristoff beginning the same process._

_ "Kristoff!" I stood up to run over to him as well, but his harsh words stopped me. _

_"No! Stay away from me! I was only trying to protect Anna from you! And instead...you killed us both!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the ice had reached his chest and he turned to solid ice just like Anna. _

_"Elsa!" I heard my name called from the last of my three victims. _

_"Jack!" I cried, a fresh new wave of tears streaming down my face as I ran over to him. _

_"Jack, no! Don't leave me, please!" It broke my heart, as I fell to his side, that his expression turned to pure anger and hatred. _

_"Elsa, what have you done? You've killed everyone that ever cared about you!" _

_He was right, I did. I felt like I wanted to shrivel up and die, instead of having to face the rest of my life without these people. It was bad enough I didn't have my parents anymore, but without Anna and Jack, I don't think I could live. I was crying hysterically now and was on the brink of an emotional breakdown, which I knew would only make the situation worse. _

_My heart was shattered into a million pieces as Jack froze to solid ice as well, yelling his last words to me,_

_ "You're a monster, Elsa!" _

"Hey! Get away from her! Elsa!" I heard, as I was still in between sleep, and reality.

"Elsa, wake up! Its just a nightmare!" The voice said again.

The same voice that had just called me a monster.

My eyes flew open and I sat up screaming, "Stay away from me!"

Jack looked at me confused,and somewhat hurt.

"Elsa its okay, it was just a nightmare, you're okay now."

"Please, Jack! I don't want to hurt you! You...you need to stay away!" I said as tears began streaming down my cheeks again.

"Shh, Elsa I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you, I've got you now." He said calmly as he sat down on the bed next to me and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into his chest and fell apart, gripping onto his sweatshirt and letting the uncontrollable sobs shake my body violently. He just sat there and ran a hand through my hair while the other rubbed my back comfortingly. Once I had composed myself a little more, he pulled back and wiped some of the remaining tears off my face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just shaken that's all. I get nightmares all the time."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked supportively. I took a while to think about whether or not I wanted to talk about the awful, heart breaking, nightmare i just had. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him that I had basically just killed him. But as I thought more and more about it, I was reminded that he was here to be a friend for me, and that I felt safe around him. So it only made sense to tell him what had scared me.

"I...I hurt everyone I cared about. Anna, her fiance, Kristoff." I looked up at him," And you, Jack."

I saw the look of shock on his face and started sobbing all over again as I said that, "You died because of me."

"Its okay Elsa, it was just a bad dream. I know you would never hurt me." He said.

"Damn, Pitch." He muttered.

I pulled away, instantly confused at what he had said, "W-what?"

"That's who I was yelling at. Well...kinda. He has these creatures that bring nightmares and I was fighting them off, sending them away from you."

"But what does he want with me?" I asked, still very confused.

He shook his head, "I don't know."

Jack and I both jerked our heads to the corner of the room as we heard a deep, dark voice,

"Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here, Jack Frost."

"Pitch." Jack growled. "Leave her alone!"

A dark figure emerged from the shadows, he looked at me with piercing gold and silver looking eyes. he appeared as though he was pondering Jack's command, while looking me up and down all the while. I felt extremely uncomfortable, and Jack must have sensed that, because he stepped in front of me protectively.

"My, Jack...a bit protective are we?" Pitch teased.

"What do you want with her? She has nothing to do with your dispute between the guardians." Jack countered.

"Oh, but she does now." He laughed, sending chills up my spine. "This girl is no stranger to me, I've been feasting off her fear for years. Its rather pleasing, the girl's filled with it!" Jack glared at Pitch, but he continued his monologue, "So tonight, I found it very interesting to see you here with her, this lonely, unloved girl."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes at his accusing words. He was right. That's exactly what I was.

"And you seem to be very protective of her, Jack. Why is that? Have you fallen in love with this useless mortal? Surely you should know better than that..."

Jack glanced over and saw the hurt etched in my eyes, as well as the tears pooling, threatening to spill over.

"Knock it off, Pitch! Answer my question."

"So I'll take that as a yes." Pitch laughed again. "You see Jack, what I want is revenge, and you're the one I'm going to start with. And since you seem to hold this girl very close to your heart, she's going to play a key role in my plan."

Jack raised his staff defensively, "You wouldn't dare touch her."

"Mmm, maybe...maybe not." Then he disappeared into the shadows and when he spoke again, he was directly behind me, so I whirled around to face him.

"But I believe the girl has a sister who, at the moment, is filled with fear." He said, his face contorting into a wicked grin.

"Anna." I breathed, filled with terror.

This only made Pitch smile more, "Yes, so if you'll excuse me, I must attend to a certain princess."

And with that he was gone, vanished into the shadows and off to find Anna. I was terrified, both for myself as he had just threatened me, as well as for Anna.

I turned to Jack, who was still stewing in his own anger until he saw me and softened a bit.

"Jack, we have to get to my sister."

**_A/N: Phew! That was a loooooong chapter! But it was very necessary to fit in a the elements of the upcoming storyline, and I'm in a car on a road trip for the next 20 hours! :/_**

**_The nightmares kinda resembled a darker alternative ending to frozen including Jack, so that was interesting to write..._**

**_IMPT: to clear up any confusion, in Elsa's nightmare, she did NOT hit Anna with her powers at the ice palace like she did in the movie. So the first time Anna got hit was when she was mistaken for Hans on the fjord._**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome! :)_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9: Race to Anna**_

_**Anna's POV **_

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, fearful of the answer I might, or might not get.

He slowly inched his way towards me until he was right in front of me. His skin was a pale shade of what looked like gray, certainly not human, and he had jet black hair that was slicked back, but spiked at the ends. He was clothed in, what appeared like shadows themselves, but were really pitch black robes that draped down to the floor.

"That's not what is important, my dear." He said, walking around me in a circle, "But if you must know, my name is Pitch Black, the King of Nightmares." He grinned wickedly at that last part.

I immediately grew furious at the fact that he had given me that nightmare, but it wasn't enough to overcome the constant waves of dear I felt pulsing through my veins.

"W-what do you want with m-me?" I nervously questioned him.

He threw his head back and chuckled a little bit, before setting his head back, with a dead serious face on.

"Revenge."

I felt myself go pale, as the blood drained from my face, and what felt like, most of my body. That one word was enough to make me fear for my life, but at the same time, confusion was rising within me.

"What did I do to you? I don't even know who you are? And how did you find me?"

"My, my, so many questions you have. Don't worry I'm sure they will all be answered in due time. But for now, all I can say is that someone you love dearly, is loved by someone I loathe dearly. I'm sure you can use your imagination to fill in the rest." He explained to me halfheartedly.

"So what do you want from me?" I asked, more afraid of knowing the answer than anything.

"That's just it...all I need is you. I take you, and your sister and that wretched boy will be sure to follow." He said to me, hissing out the words 'wretched boy.'

Before I could even really process what he was saying, I immediately focused on what he had said about someone loving my sister. Then he said a boy...some boy loved my sister?! Oh it was too good to be true! Well it kinda was, being as now all three of us were in this situation. That's when it clicked, Pitch was here to take me in order to lure Elsa and this guy to follow. I knew I was in big trouble now, and just wished that Kristoff were here to protect me. That anyone were here to help me, really. But I was the only one here, I was all alone with no one to save me.

Suddenly, Pitch snapped his fingers and I felt sand crawling up my legs and arms. I felt as though the sand would swallow me up, and before I knew it, I felt myself slip into darkness.

Kristoff's POV

The sun was slowly setting and I had already helped the guys with everything they had said they needed help with. It still amazed me that those fools kept my business in tact, almost as much as it amazed me I kept them around for so long. But if you want something done right, do it yourself, I guess. Based on the setting sun, I decided I would have enough time to stop in and say hello to the family.

"Well I think we might have time to go visit the family, what do you think Sven?" He was busy eating the carrot I had given him earlier, but nodded in agreement.

"Alright, well you know the way. C'mon buddy!" With that, I ushered him on to get going, and he took the rest from there, considering he knew his way around this area, like the back of his hand...er...hoof?

We traveled mostly in silence through the snow covered mountains, passing through the tall evergreens on the path leading straight to our family's residence. Upon coming across a clearing, Sven came to a stop, I hopped off and walked over to stand in the middle. I waited for the traditional scream from Bulda...

"Kristoffs home!"

_There it is._

All at once, my family members came up to greet me and ask me of how I've been doing and whatnot. Of course the older members were more interested in my love life, while the younger ones just wanted hear stories of adventures I've had since I'd seen them last. To amuse the little ones, I sat down and told them some of the crazy things Anna had dragged him into, as well as fun times he had had with Sven. Upon hearing his name, Sven came running in and was immediately tackled by the large mass of younger trolls. That left me to deal with the older trolls who would be poking and prodding me for information about the status between Anna and I.

_Great. Man, sometimes it sucked to have love experts as family..._

Sure enough they all came running towards me with a million questions regarding Anna.

"Alright, alright! I do have news for you all..."

I waited, trying to create a dramatic effect and, knowing my family all too well, it worked.

"C'mon, Kristoff tell us!"

"Yeah we can't wait to hear about our unborn grandchildren!"

_Oh boy...wait WHAT?!_

"Whoa, whoa whoa...no one is getting any grandchildren from me as of yet!" I protested. Some of them weren't necessarily happy with that answer and mumbled amongst each other.

"Aww, man!"

"Yeah, I know! How long is it gonna take?"

I ignored them and rolled my eyes, "Anyways, I was going to announce...that Anna and I are engaged."

A burst of cheering and applause was heard from almost every troll present, and I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of myself. It felt so good to talk about Anna and know that we would be married in three months, and that she'd be mine forever. I loved her so much...

"Kristoff! That's wonderful to hear." I heard the unmistakable voice of Grand Pabbie, through the crowd of trolls.

"Grand Pabbie!" I rushed over to him, and we walked off to a more secluded area, away from the bustling bunch.

"Kristoff, how have things been over at the castle?" "They've been pretty good, I actually came up here to handle some issues with the ice business, and I decided to stop by here afterwards."

"Well I'm glad you did..." He said sounding somewhat troubled. I noticed it and immediately became worried, whenever Grand Pabbie was troubled, it usually meant something very bad had happened.

"Is everything okay, Grand Pabbie?"

He sighed before replying, "No Kristoff, I'm afraid there is dark magic in Arendelle, and an even darker presence is haunting the kingdom. I'm afraid no one is very safe from whatever attacks this presence may bring on."

"Anna..." I breathed. I was now extremely worried about her, she was all alone in the castle and this dark magic was around.

"Yes, Kristoff, you must go back to her to protect her. That is, if it is not already too late..."

I became infuriated by his words, "Too late? No! I won't let that happen!" I turned around to leave, before he stopped me again, "Kristoff, just be safe."

"I will, don't worry." I then looked over at Sven who was still being climbed on by a bunch of the younger trolls.

"Sven, c'mon! We have to go help Anna."

A few minutes later, the two of us were racing back to Arendelle, to save Anna.

Elsa's POV

"Jack, we need to get to my sister."

He just nodded in understanding agreement, before he started mumbling things to himself, trying to figure out a plan. He suddenly got an idea and turned to look me in the eye, completely serious, before asking, "Do you trust me?"

"Wha-?" I didn't have time to reply, as he yanked me over to my balcony before turning to me, holding both my hands and asking again.

"Elsa, do you trust me?" I was a bit shocked at how blunt his question was, as well as why this was relevant to helping my sister.

"I...well yes, but-"

"Okay, hold on." I was interrupted again as he swept me up into his arms, bridal style, and jumped onto the balcony railing.

"Jaaack...what are you doing?" I asked, absolutely terrified of the height that was before me, or rather, below me.

"Don't worry, I've got you, and this is the quickest way to get to the castle. To get to Anna."

I was terrified of heights, I always had been, but somehow being in Jack's strong arms, seeing his gentle eyes, and hearing his calming voice made me less scared.

"Okay." I said in reply, "I trust you."

With assuring that I was comfortable, he leapt off the balcony and into the air, in the direction of Arendelle, where the morning rays of sunlight were already crawling about. I had wrapped my arms around his neck, and held on tighter to him as he jumped off. As we were flying down the north mountain, and across the forests below, so many thoughts were running through my head, it was almost unbearable. Pitch had threatened me, but the reason he threatened me was a bit surprising to me as well. He said that because Jack had held me close to his heart, he would use me to get revenge. I know that's not the part of the threat I should've been worrying about, but I couldn't help but think about exactly how close he kept me to his heart.

My thoughts, however, were immediately directed back to Anna as we approached the castle, and I pointed Jack in the direction of my bedroom. We came in through the balcony, as he gently set me down, and I ran to Anna's room as fast as my legs would carry me, Jack following close behind. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer, so I tried opening it and with my luck, it was locked. I groaned in frustration, and aimed my fingertips and the doorhandle, freezing it over before I grabbed onto it and broke it off. I looked at the door handle in my hand in surprise, then shrugged as I darted inside. I looked all around the room for her and all of my efforts came up useless.

She was no where to be found.

When Jack caught up to me he rushed over to me, while I was collapsed on the ground sobbing furiously.

"She's gone." I said to him. Then I motioned to what I was crying over, a pile of black sand, "Pitch took her and she's gone."

**_A/N: Significantly shorter chapter compared to Chapter 8, but hey, y'all got two in one day! Writing in _**

**_Kristoff's POV was definitely a change for me considering I'm used to either Elsa, Anna or Jack _**

**_Also to clear things up, I apologize that the POVs may seem a bit out of order, because Pitch takes Anna at night, Jack and Elsa find out she's gone in the morning, and Kristoff's takes place that night, so yeah he's a bit too late but shhh don't tell him that_**

**_ Trust me there's a method to my madness _**

**_And I just wanted to send out a big thank you for all your reviews! _**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome! :) _**__


	10. Chapter 10

**_Chapter 10: Unexpected Visitor_**

**_Elsa's POV _**

Anna was gone.

I was at a total loss for words, and all I could feel was this huge, heavy weight that had just been thrust upon my shoulders. This was all my fault, just like in the nightmare, it was my fault Anna was in danger. Twice before I have felt this awful weight when I had hurt Anna both as a child, and just last year. Both times before were accidents, while I didn't know how to control my powers, but this time I could've prevented it. I should have been here, to help her and protect her. But instead I abandoned her and was off having fun with Jack instead.

_Wait, where was Kristoff during this? _

That didn't matter. I was more angry at myself, than anyone else. I'm her big sister, and I should've been here for her.

As I sat there on the ground, processing my thoughts, Jack was kneeling next to me. I looked up at him with red rimmed eyes and a tear-stained face, and he just came closer and wrapped his arms around me. I grabbed onto the collar of his sweatshirt and buried my face in his neck, as he pulled me into his lap. He sat there with me, silently comforting me and stroking my back, until my shaky voice broke the silence.

"This is all my fault." I said in a weak voice, my throat dry from violently sobbing.

"Elsa, no. This is all to get back at me, so if anyone is to blame, its me."

"Jack...what is he going to do with my sister?" I could barely choke out that sentence, as horrible thoughts of things he would do, popped into my head. He thought about my question for, what seemed like forever, but was only a few moments. The fact that he actually had to think about what that monster would do to my sister was nerve wracking to say the least.

"I dont think he will harm her. Pitch doesn't need anything from her specifically, so he shouldn't have a reason to." He finally replied.

I remained silent, letting his words sink in, only nodding slightly in response to his statement.

"And we are going to get her back before he has the chance to do anything." He said, almost as if he was making a promise to me. This caused me to pull back so I could turn to look him in the eye,

"But how? We don't even know where Pitch is, let alone where he would take her." I questioned. I immediately scolded myself afterwards for being negative about the situation, but a part of me had hope that Jack would know how to handle this.

"He will most likely take her back to his lair, and the Guardians and I found it last time, we can find it again." He stated determinedly.

"So what do we do?" I asked nervously.

He sighed before looking out the window, "I need to get to the Guardians, and I'll form a plan with them."

My hope in Jack had been confirmed, as indeed, he did know what to do. I found that a small part of me was relieved that we would find the answers to all my previous questions. And I was hopeful that we would get Anna back, safe and sound. But at the same time, there was still a lot that was left unanswered, and still the chance that Pitch would...harm her.

"Jack, I'm going with you."

He looked away from me again, "Elsa, I really don't think that's-"

I turned his face back to me with my hand, locking eyes with him, "You're going to need help, and I'm going to help you save my sister."

He pondered my defiant words and studied the determined look in my eyes, before nodding slightly and responding.

"Okay, fine. But I'm going to the North Pole, to talk to North, then I'll come back and we'll find Pitch, together."

I nodded, "When are you leaving?"

He sighed again, "Well I need to leave as soon as possible, don't you think? I mean the quicker I get to North, the quicker we find Pitch and get to Anna."

"Yes, I agree we need to work fast to get her back." I said in reply.

With our plan confirmed, I stood up and extended a hand to Jack, to help him up as well. He took my hand and smiled at me, as he continued holding it while we walked over to the balcony. When we reached the railing he turned and surprised me, by pulling me into a hug, wrapping his arms around my waist. We stayed in that embrace for a while, and I savored every moment of it.

"I should go." He whispered in my ear. The feeling of his cold breath against my skin sent shivers down my spine, and I closed my eyes. We pulled apart and I opened my eyes slowly, not wanting him to leave me just yet, but knowing he had to.

"Please, Jack...be safe." I said quietly, with softly pleading eyes.

"I will, and I promise I'll be back soon." I nodded as he hopped up onto the railing, and with one last smile from him, he was gone.

It was about mid morning, at least so I thought, and I had a whole day to spend with no one but myself. I was left all alone in the castle, with no Anna to constantly brighten up my day, and no Jack to bring fun into the room. It amazed me that these two people had such an impact on me, and the way I felt. Right now, though, all I felt was something that was all too familiar for me. Loneliness.

All throughout my life I had been hiding away from everyone, for fear of my powers slipping out, and me hurting them. The hardest, however, was when my parents passed and I was left with literally no one who knew about my powers. Which meant I couldn't talk to or be around anyone. So I was used to being alone, but this time I had rekindled my relationship with Anna, and met Jack, who was proving to be the best friend I've ever had, and now neither were here.

I sighed aloud, realizing I was still standing out on the balcony where Jack had left a little earlier. I turned around and headed back into my room, glancing in the mirror as I walked by. I cringed when I saw my reflection. I was still in my night gown from last night, my hair was a wavy white mess, and my makeup had streaked down my face from the crying I had done. I walked over to my wardrobe and picked out a baby blue dress that had a sweetheart neckline, and sheer fabric that extended to my neck and down my arms to form sleeves. There were white snowflakes that decorated the bodice and trailed down one side of the skirt, that led to a slit in the skirt up to my thigh. I put my hair in its formal braided bun, and added a few snowflake clips to secure it in place, allowing my bangs to fall on my face. I decided to go with a silvery eye shadow and light mascara, to keep things light. I looked at myself in the mirror again, now that I had a more composed look about me, I would be able to attempt acting like everything was fine.

I walked out of my room, gently closing the door behind me. As I started my way down the long hallway. My stomach grumbled, signalling that it would be a good idea to head down to the kitchen to find breakfast. As I walked down the halls, I took the time to notice the care and impeccable detail that had been put into the castle by my ancestors. The walls were decorated with family tapestries and other artifacts native to Arendelle. Paintings lined the walls as well, mostly of picturesque landscapes of kingdoms all around. I passed the library, and figured I would go there after my late breakfast, being as I loved spending any free time I had, in there. Before long, I turned the corner that led to the corridor containing the dining room and the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and was surprised at how it was still bustling, when it was only me in the castle. Then I remembered that none of the servants knew Anna was missing, in fact no one besides Jack and I knew, not even Kristoff.

_Oh god, what would Kristoff think? He'd be heartbroken..._

I tried not to think back to Anna's disappearance, knowing I would become emotionally unstable again. I had been become fairly good at controlling my powers through my emotions now, but I was still always nervous about them. I moved to grab a small bowl of oatmeal, and a little plate with fruit off of the counter.

"Good morning, my Queen. Although it is closer to being afternoon now." Kai, one of our servants, said to me happily.

_Was it really that late? How long had I been crying over that pile of sand?_

"Oh, I guess it is a bit late, but good morning, Kai." I said slightly less happy.

He didn't seem to notice, "Will princess Anna be joining you?"

My eyes grew wide and I began fidgeting with my fingers, "Oh...umm...actually she's sleeping in late today, I guess." I lied.

"Oh, alright then." He replied, buying my lie, and moving on instruct one of the other servants.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, and brought my breakfast back to the large, empty dining room. I felt awful having to lie to the everyone, but I figured it was probably best if they didn't know, for now. And I was still holding on to the hope that we would be bringing her back soon, anyways. I sat there in the dining room for what felt like hours, just mulling around in my own thoughts about the whole Pitch situation. This madman had threatened my life, and now put my sister in danger, all to get back at Jack. But there had to be something more to it than that, there had to be a reason why he loathed Jack so much, and now me. I continued picking at the remaining fruit on my plate, having already finished my oatmeal. Upon finishing, I stood up, left the dining room, and walked to the library.

When I had reached the two massive wooden doors, I opened one and walked inside, to be greeted by Gerda, another one of our close servants.

"Good afternoon, your majesty." She said with a curtsey.

_Afternoon?! Maybe I **was **in the dining room for hours... _

"What time is it exactly?" I asked, still surprised at how fast time seemed to be slipping by.

"It is three hours past midday." She said, and she must've noticed my shocked expression, because she added with a giggle, "I believe, her majesty might have slept in a tad bit late today."

"Yes, I guess so." I said still a bit shocked, "Well thank you, Gerda." She nodded before scurrying off to attend to some other part of the castle, leaving me alone in the massive library.

I smiled to myself remembering all the times I had spent here as a child, growing up. I would often times sneak down here without Anna noticing, and lock myself in, allowing me peace and quiet to read in. Whenever I would read a good story or fairytale, I would find myself taken away from the world I was living in, where I had to hide away. When I was transported to these other worlds, I could be myself without worrying about my powers and without having to feel alone all the time. That was the secret reason I actually liked reading so much, instead of just occupying time, it was to feel a certain freedom that I hadn't had before. And that's what I was hoping to accomplish now, to take my mind off of the whole Pitch situation, and try to find peace in a good story.

I casually sauntered over to one of the shelves against the wall, near a lounging area with a few couches and a fireplace. It was the fantasy section, and I ran my finger along the spines of a few of the books until I stopped on one that surprised me. There, right next to each other, were the books of the story of Jack Frost, and the story of the Guardians of Childhood. I knew we had these stories when my parents were still alive, being as my mother would often times sit in here with Anna and I, and read them to us. Another story Anna and I loved to hear was that of a kingdom who had a king who could control fire. I didn't think we still had these stories after my parents died, so I was pleasantly surprised to find them here. I swiftly plucked the three stories off the shelf and sat down on the couch across from the already lit fireplace. The first story I picked up was the story of the Fire King, and as I read I couldn't help but relate to him in many ways I couldn't as a child. It featured a man named Brandin, who had control over fire, that reigned as king over his kingdom until he had lost control. His entire kingdom and everything he cared about was destroyed in flames, and he was taken as prisoner and sentenced to death. He, however, was never killed, just sent into a deep sleep for many, many years. When he woke up, he was completely enraged that he had destroyed his kingdom and even more upset he had been held prisoner. He constantly had a hard time controlling his abilities, until a woman named Serena came into his life. She was able to calm him and ensure that his abilities would not flare up, because she spoke to him with words of love, that tamed his heart of fury.

The similarities in this story, to the dilemma that had happened with me just over a year ago, was incredible. Especially in the fact that he was able to control his powers with love, much like I had learned to. Strangely enough, this was Anna's favorite story to hear, besides the story of the Guardians of Childhood, of course. Mine however was the story of Jack Frost, because he had the exact same powers as I did, and that intrigued me. That was the next story I turned my attention to, as I began flipping the pages and reading its contents. It was interesting to read another story of Jack's creation, and even more interesting to see the ridiculous interpretations of him through illustrations. I once read a version of the story, where he was portrayed as an old man who brought the season of winter along, known as Father Frost. This particular version, however, was far more accurate than that other version. This one had shown that he was a young, fun-loving and mischievous spirit that brought both winter and fun with him. I smiled to myself thinking about Jack and his mischievous ways, as well as those piercing blue eyes that showed both affection and curiosity.

_I hope he comes back soon, I miss him terribly._

I sighed and grabbed the last book I had pulled from the shelf; The Guardians of Childhood. Looking at the cover I saw there were four of them, excluding Jack, and they were all as I had remembered them. Opening the book, I had discovered that it was divided into four sections that described each Guardian. I read first about St. Nicholas North, who served as a sort of leader for the Guardians, and was also known to most children as Santa Claus. He was the Guardian of Wonder, as he brought wonder to the children of the world through the gifts he brought them. He was celebrated as Santa Claus during Christmas, when he brought the gifts to all the children. Being as Christmas was in the middle of winter, it had always been my favorite holiday. The next guardian I read about was E. Aster Bunnymund, also known as the Easter Bunny. He was the Guardian of Hope and he brought hope to children through Easter, which was a holiday to symbolize new beginnings. The next was Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy! Oh, Anna had always looked for reasons to loose her teeth just so the tooth fairy would come. Toothiana was the Guardian of Memories, the memories you made as a child that defined your childhood. I couldn't help but think that my memories must have been less than pleasant, as I was always filled with fear of losing control of my powers. The last Guardian featured, was none other than Sanderson Mansnoozie, or the Sandman. He was the Guardian of Dreams, and brought good dreams to all the children, enabling peaceful sleep. I looked out the window, noticing that it had become dark outside, and thought it might be a good idea to head back to my room soon. I dreaded going to sleep now, for fear of another nightmare, and it made me wonder why I couldn't have good dreams like everyone else.

_Oh yeah, Pitch is fixated on making me miserable._

"I bet the Sandman doesn't appreciate Pitch messing with his good dreams, and turning them bad." I said aloud to myself.

"Well he wasn't too happy, but it's still a pretty good trick, you must admit." I heard a familiarly cold and dark voice behind me. I knew just from the sound of it, and the way it sent shivers down my spine, exactly who it was.

Pitch.

I stood up from the couch and whirled around to meet his face, which was twisted into a wicked grin,

"Pitch." I hissed, "What are you doing here? Where's my sister?" I said my voice rising in anger with every word I spoke.

My display of anger just seemed to entertain him more as his smile grew bigger, revealing his sharp, pointed teeth. "So many questions, I'm sure you must be filled with curiosity...or is that fear I smell?" He laughed coldly before walking towards me.

"Where is my sister?" I asked more firmly through gritted teeth, while stepping backwards away from him.

"Mmm, that's a secret I can't tell you. But what I can offer you...is a deal." He said stepping even closer to me. I didn't like the small distance that was now between us, to say the least.

"What are you talking about?" I said glaring at him.

"Oh Elsa, I've been with you for years, and I know what your greatest fears are. You are afraid to hurt the ones that care about you, but you don't know how to prevent it." He explained.

"You don't know me." I lied. He was right, he actually knew what I have always been so afraid of.

"I sense a great power inside of you, Elsa, more powerful even than Jack. And I also know that scares you. Your sheer power scares you, in its entirety and the fact that you worry you still don't know how to control it."

I said nothing in response to him this time, and he took that as the signal to continue.

"What if I told you I could help you? What if I said that you'd never have to worry about hurting anyone or losing control of your powers again?"

"Why are you trying to help me? You took my sister and are holding her hostage! Why are you pretending that you care? I've had enough of your games Pitch."

And with that I sent a blast of ice his way, aimed at his head, but he quickly dodged it, and sent an arrow of sand towards me that cut my cheek.

I yelped in pain as I felt the blood trickling down my face and grabbed my cheek before flicking my wrist and trapping him in a cage made of ice. He twirled his fingers in a circle, covering the bars that held him in, in sand, and shattered them by clenching his fist.

Once free, his face grew to rage as he summoned his own powers, allowing tendrils of black sand to creep from the shadows around him and stalk towards me. I swept my arm in an arc, and sent ice shards to the floor where the sand had been moving, freezing it solid. I then directed my attention back to Pitch and sent a massive wave of ice towards him, but he quickly recovered and shattered it with a pickaxe of black sand.

He then struck back, creating ropes of sand and commanding then forward to wrap around my wrists. As I struggled against them, I concentrated my power on the ropes and froze them. Because Pitch was connected to the ropes, a wave of my power shot through his arm, causing him to scream out in pain, and stagger back a few steps allowing me space to breathe.

Unfortunately for me, that only fueled his rage and he sent his black sand at me at full force, but I quickly blocked it with my own ice. We were both locked in an ongoing struggle for power as his dark magic, and my ice magic battled it out in front of us.

Pitch was slowly gaining the upper hand however, and I knew I couldn't keep fighting for much longer, as the more power I exerted on him, the more I felt exhausted. As I grew more and more tired, Pitch sent one last final blow into the feud between powers, and the force of his last attack caused me to stop, and sent me flying into the wall before landing on the ground hard.

As I hit the floor, my body felt numb and I couldn't move. I slowly blinked, but my vision was blurry and I couldn't focus it to see what was happening. Before I knew it, I was slipping into darkness, and the last thing I heard was Pitch's cold laughter ringing in my ears.

**_Jack's POV_**

I squinted slightly, and I saw the faintly twinkling lights of the North Pole up ahead in the distance. I had been flying for quite some time, all the while torturing myself by thinking of Pitch and his scheming plans. It angered me that he was involving Elsa in the feud he had with the Guardians, as she was just an innocent bystander. She had nothing to do with our dispute! It angered me even more that Pitch immediately pinpointed my feelings for Elsa and used that to his own benefit. And the way he talked about her, saying she was useless, lonely and unloved, just made me want to beat him to a pulp. Elsa isn't any of those things, and I'm going to make sure it stays that way.

As the North Pole finally materialized before me, I navigated over to North's office, where I knew I could find him. I flew in through an open window in the ceiling and landed next to the large globe in the center of the room. The room itself was pretty big, and had a large fireplace on one side, and two double doors leading to North's office, on the other. I walked over to the doors and knocked on them, causing the large man inside to bellow,

"Is open, come in!" He boomed in his thick Russian accent. I slowly cracked the door open, peeking in cautiously, before fully stepping into the room. North was in the corner tinkering with something I couldnt see, most likely a new toy, and I took a few steps closer to him so I was now almost in the center of the room.

He heard me, and glanced up from his work, "Jack! How nice to see you again, my friend!" He said, putting down the tools he had been using.

"Hey North." I said flatly.

I'm sure he could tell I was not here for very cheerful reason by now. His face fell into a bit of a frown, "Jack, what is wrong?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and staring straight into North's. "It's Pitch." I stated, practically spitting out his name.

North's eyes grew wide and the usual rosy hue in his cheeks had paled, at the mention of our preciously defeated foe, as he immediately became very concerned.

"Have you seen him again?" He asked.

"Yes I have, and he's planning revenge...on me."

"Why just you? It was all Guardians who beat him last time."

"I don't know, North, but I know he's planning something..." I looked out the window, removing Norths gaze from my eyes.

"What is he planning, Jack?" He questioned nervously.

"I don't know his whole plan, but he's kidnapped a family member of someone I...care about, and we need to get her back."

North nodded as he thought about my words, and more specifically, the predicament I was in. I knew just as well as he did, that we had to act soon, in order to get Anna back safely.

"I have feeling Pitch took this girl to his lair, and I believe it is still in same place." He said, scratching his long white beard.

"So you're saying, he's still in Burgess, where we left him last time?" I asked incredulously, surely Pitch had to be more clever than to keep his lair in the same place it was last time.

"Yes, I believe so. But you must hurry, Jack. You know how Pitch can be." He warned me, and with that I turned to leave, before North stopped me again.

"Wait, Jack! Are you sure you don't need help? Guardians would be happy to help." He said with a sympathetic smile. I thought about the possibility of just the Guardians and I going to Pitch, beating him down, and saving Anna without having to put Elsa in danger. It was a better option, only because then I wouldn't have to worry about Elsa getting hurt, but I knew if I changed my mind and left Elsa at the castle, she'd be livid. It sucked that she had to be involved at all, because any option still left Elsa in Pitch's plan for revenge. I glanced out the window and realized I had been gone much longer than I thought I had, being as the sun was setting, and darkness was creeping in. I was immediately worried about Elsa, as it was getting dark and she was still alone in the castle, while Pitch was still out there.

"No I made a promise to someone, and I have to go to her now, I'm afraid she's already been alone too long."

I turned and called the wind to take me up and out through the ceiling, and back to Arendelle. I flew away from the North Pole and made my way back as fast as I possibly could, fearing for Elsa's safety. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes trying not to think about Pitch.

_You're worrying too much, she'll be okay._

I urged the wind to take me faster, and I continued soaring over the ocean. I looked down at the water below me, that was once sparkling in the sunlight, was now dark and ominous. The water now reflected some of the moons light, that was shining above in its full form. I thought about Manny, and how he was involved in my discovery of Elsa, being as I was fairly convinced has something to do with it. If that was the case, and Manny was responsible, then I had a lot to thank him for. I let my thoughts bounce around in my head a bit more, to the point that I had barely even noticed that I had come closer to Arendelle, and could now see it on the horizon. I flew past the mountains and forests that surrounded it, and over the fjord that held the kingdom itself. I flew around the castle a few times, not exactly remembering where Elsa's bedroom was, but eventually found the familiar balcony. I landed there and walked in through the open balcony doors, and searched the room for Elsa, but much to my dismay, she wasn't there.

"Elsa?" I called, just in case she had been there and I hadn't seen her.

But there was no response, and a part of me started panicking a bit.

_Alright, calm down...she probably just went somewhere else in the castle._

I peeked my head out her door and looked down the hallway, to find it was clear of anyone. Despite the fact I was invisible to most people, I felt the need to be cautious for some odd reason. I walked down the long hallway and was hopelessly confused, as most of the doors to the rooms had been closed, meaning I had no idea what they lead to or who was in them. I came across a room that I had recognized as Anna's room, mostly due to the broken doorhandle from Elsa earlier that day, and peered in. She wasn't in there either, which made sense, considering it was probably too emotionally overwhelming for her. I continued my search down the hall, when I saw another door that had been left open, and I looked in.

By the looks of the shelves that were stacked with hundreds of books, I had reached the library. I walked around a bit, admiring the impressive collection of book-filled shelves they had lining the walls, and dividing the room into aisles. And the shelves were not very small either, for they reached from the carpeted ground, all the way to the ceiling of the massive room. Elsa had told me she had always loved reading, and from the resources she had here, I could understand how she could have acquired that love. I walked over to an area that had a few tables and chairs set up as well as a few couches and a fireplace. A fire was lit in the fireplace, which told me someone had been here not too long ago, if they weren't still here.

"Elsa?" I tried hoping that she might've come in here, and that I'd find her.

I didn't get a response, but I noticed a small piece of baby blue fabric lying behind one of the couches. I walked closer to see that it was bigger than a small piece, it was a body lying there unconscious on the ground.

It was Elsa.

I immediately ran over to her side and scooped her up into my arms. I noticed the cut on her porcelain face, and now my thoughts were running wild in my head.

_What the hell happened here? _

"Elsa! Oh no please, she can't be hurt." I bent down and put my ear to her chest much like I had the day before when she has tricked me into thinking she was hurt. But I knew, that now she wasn't faking this. She was really hurt.

As I listened I could hear a faint heartbeat, that sounded weak and strained. But still as far as I knew she was still unconscious and I didn't know what was wrong with her.

I was absolutely beside myself, and frustrated that I had left her alone, because now she was hurt and it was all my fault. I pulled her close to me and buried my face in her neck, trying to hold back tears of anger, sadness, and guilt all at the same time.

"Elsa, please...please come back to me." I pleaded, my voice cracking as tears threatened to spill over.

**_A/N: Aww...tears for this little scene :'( its so heart breaking to see Jack that upset_**

**_I'm thinkin of putting in a Pitch POV soon...? Let me know what you think of that idea..._**

**_And also a note on the story earlier, The Fire King in this story is loosely based off the real version by Marjorie M. Liu. Yeah its actually a story that is freakishly similar to Elsa's_**

**_Also, apologies from me that this chapter took such a long time, but I had a 5 hour practice yesterday, and this chapter is pretty long, so the editing process was a nightmare. _**

**_R&R please! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome!_**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11: Calm Before The Storm**_

Anna's POV

I was lying on the cold, hard metal ground. Darkness was literally dripping from all corners of this place, making it almost impossible to see anything around me. I put both of my hands on the ground and carefully pushed myself up so I was in a somewhat upright position. The place I was in seemed to be a cave of some sorts, with jagged formations jutting down from the ceiling. There was very little light inside, both due to the fact that it was a cave, and that it was also early in the morning, judging by the slowly changing sky outside. I moved over to lean on the back of the cage that held me and blinked my eyes a few times. By tracking the small amount of daylight that streamed in through a tiny window of the ceiling, I knew I had already been here a whole day. I remembered waking up from the odd deep sleep I had been in, when Pitch threw me in this metal cage. It resembled that of a bird cage, and was hanging from the ceiling along with many others that were scattered around the huge cave. The ceiling itself was tall, which meant my cage was dangling high off the ground. I was terrified of heights so, in addition to it already being a method of my imprisonment, it was less than desirable.

_It's almost like he knew what scared me..._

There were also these creatures, which Pitch had called his nightmares, that looked like horses made of black sand. They roamed around the cave, making sure to keep an eye on me as Pitch had instructed them to before he left. He hadn't said where he was going, but he kept rambling on and on about a deal of some sorts.

I closed my eyes and started thinking about my sister, wondering if she had returned home yet. I know I was in no position to talk, but I just hoped she made it home safely. I wondered if she had realized I was missing yet, and most of all I was hoping that she'd somehow come find me. I knew that was a long shot, however, being as I doubt Elsa even knew who this Pitch guy was.

"How dare she! That little witch!" Pitch roared.

_Speak of the devil..._

Pitch came storming back into the cave, destroying any of his nightmares that swarmed round him, in the process. He stalking angrily around the cave, yelling things about a girl who had apparently made him extremely mad, but I had no idea who, or what she had done.

"The Ice Queen will regret not accepting my help! And now both she and her precious Jack will pay." He hissed.

I realized he was talking about my sister, being as there was only one Ice Queen I knew of, and was immediately alarmed. "Hey! Stay away from my sister!" I screamed to him.

He glared up at me and snapped back, "Pipe down, you foolish girl!"

"No! Leave my sister alone! Do you hear me?!" I yelled back down to him.

"I don't take orders from you, little girl!" He snarled.

"And who is this Jack you keep talking about anyways?" I asked, genuinely curious to know why Pitch was so fixated on this guy, especially since he was convinced they lived each other.

"Jack is a defiant, trouble-making little brat, who rudely interferes with people's plans!" He spat. "But don't worry, that's all going to change, and you sister is going to learn some manners as well. Now, I suggest you do the same and keep quiet like a good little prisoner." He said with a wicked smile, revealing pointed teeth, and dark plans.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he disappeared into the shadows, lurking off to who knows where, most likely haunting more dreams. I had another nightmare last night, which wasn't all that surprising considering I had been abducted and thrown into this cage in the seemingly endless darkness that filled this cave. I couldn't remember many of the details of the dream but I knew it was about me ruining my sister's chance at happiness in life. It was disturbing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the previous one where Hans had...

I shook off those thoughts, and instead redirected my thoughts to hoping that Elsa would be able to find a way to get to me. Pitch talked about her as if he knew her, and had visited her, so maybe Elsa knew him after all. And maybe this Jack guy would know enough about Pitch, to find out where it is he's hiding me. All I could do was hope that Elsa would find a way to get to me. Hope that things would be alright.

Elsa's POV

I felt myself slowly returning from the darkness that had recently consumed me, and I heard a voice calling my name. And from the sound of that voice, I could tell the owner was close to tears, if not already giving in and letting them fall. I slowly blinked open my eyes to observe my surroundings, and find the owner of that voice.

"Elsa?" The owner of the voice called, filled with hope.

Once my vision had focused, I saw exactly who it was that was now leaning over me expectantly.

Jack.

He immediately brought me close to him in a tight embrace, and whispered in my ear,

"Oh thank god you're okay!"

I looked over his shoulder, still in his strong arms, and studied the room around me. Something was different. Slowly, memories of what had happened before the darkness, came back to me and I realized I was no longer in the library, where I was confronted by Pitch. I was back in my own bedroom, sitting on my bed, and hugging Jack who was lightly stroking my back. I started to snap out of my state of confusion and came back to reality, pulling away from Jack's embrace to face him.

"How did I get in here?" I asked, still looking around the room as if I'd never seen it before.

He laughed a short, bittersweet laugh, "You were unconscious for hours on end, and thats the first thing you worry about?" He said raising an eyebrow at me.

"I just remember being in the library, and then...wait...hours on end?!" I couldn't believe I had been out for hours.

"Yeah, I found you passed out last night and I brought you in here, so you could rest." He admitted, before he continued, "But what the hell happened last night?"

I felt the memories of my fight with Pitch and his cold, unforgiving words that still echoed in my mind. He basically stood there and told me everything he knew about me, including what my greatest fears were. And the scariest part of the whole ordeal, was that he was right, in everything he said about me.

"Pitch...was here. He came back and found me, taunting me and threatening me, and before I knew it we were attacking each other." I said.

I was purposely leaving out the detail that Pitch had tried offering me a deal, to 'help' me with my powers. I didn't want Jack to know what I was afraid of, since it was my biggest weakness, and I certainly didn't need him any more worried than he already was. But I could see the anger rising within him on his face, and in his eyes, as he stood up and his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"...But I'm okay, its really not that big a deal." I blurred, in a futile attempt to calm the rising anger and frustration in him.

"Not a big deal?! I can't believe that bastard...how dare he even lay a finger on you!" Jack spat, obviously infuriated about Pitch's little visit.

I stayed silent and watched helplessly as he stewed in his own anger, pacing the room and mumbling things to himself about how he was going to kill Pitch.

_I guess it was a good idea I hadn't told him about his offer._

I sighed, "Jack..." I tried getting his attention in an attempt to calm him down, but he was still pacing furiously, and paid no attention to me.

"Jack." I tried again, drawing out the 'a' in his name, but to no avail. Now it was getting slightly frustrating that he was ignoring me, lost in his own little world.

"JACK!" I finally yelled, causing him to look up at me with eyes that were filled with anger.

"What?!" He snapped, before he realized what he had done, and rushed over to me apologizing.

"Elsa, I'm sorry I...I just... I'm beyond frustrated that Pitch is after you now, because its all my fault."

"No, Jack its not your fault, you need to stop blaming yourself." I said calmly, trying to console him.

He looked up at me with eyes that were now filled with sadness and guilt.

"Don't you see Elsa, I left you here all alone and I...I almost lost you." He said looking down to the floorboards, avoiding my gaze at all costs.

I walked over to him, and cupped his face in both my hands, forcing him to look into my eyes again. He did exactly that, and I gave him a small smile as we both seemed to get lost in each others ice blue eyes.

"Jack, I'm right here with you, okay? I'm not leaving you anytime soon."

I was taken aback by the words that had just left my own mouth, mostly because I hadn't realized I felt that way. But I knew now that I did, he was my dearest friend, and living without him would be unbearable.

"And I'm really glad you're here with me, Elsa." He whispered.

I noticed how close we had become to each other, our faces only inches apart, and I felt his cold breath brush against my skin. I had grown fond of the way his touch made me feel, and being in such close proximity to him now, caused my heart to beat rapidly and butterflies to flutter in my stomach.

"I'm glad you're here with me, too, Jack." I whispered back, my lips almost brushing against his. He rested his forehead against mine and we enjoyed each others company for a while, until we were interrupted by my bedroom door swinging open to reveal a terrified Gerda. I shoved Jack off of me, afraid of what this might've looked like, and composed myself before addressing Gerda. But she beat me to it.

"The princess is missing!" She cried, "She's nowhere to be found!"

My moment of happiness with Jack was shattered as the memory of my sisters abduction came crashing back to me full force. I was fully aware of my sisters absence, though I admittedly had forgotten about it while being wrapped in Jack's arms, and now remembered what I had to do.

"Yes I'm aware," I replied sadly, "and I'm going to find her."

Both Gerda and Jack reacted somewhat surprised at my sudden announcement, but I knew what I had to do. Pitch has had Anna for too long already, and thoughts were starting to creep into my mind that we might be too late.

_No I can't be. _

Shaking off those thoughts, I turned to face Jack and gave him a questioning look, as if seeking confirmation, to which he nodded in return.

"Please, your majesty, you must not go! Arendelle can not lose any more of their royals." Gerda pleaded.

"Do not worry, I know where she is, and I promise you both of us will be returning." I cringed inwardly at the promise I had just made Gerda. What if both of us couldn't come back? What if we didn't make it?

_No I can't think that way. _

A thought dawned on me and I turned to Gerda, "Has Kristoff returned to the castle yet?"

"No, your majesty, he has not." She replied.

It wasn't the answer I wanted. Explaining the fact that his fiancé was missing would already be hard enough, but now that he isn't here, I can't do that. I needed to leave immediately and he wasn't here.

"Upon his arrival, you are to inform him of of the situation. I cannot wait for him, I have to leave to find Anna."

Gerda simply nodded, "Yes, your majesty."

I turned and walked over to the balcony doors and opened them, causing midday sunlight to pour into the room. Jack followed close behind, and I glanced at Gerda to see that she had just noticed Jack, and looked a bit confused.

I gave her a reassuring look, "I'll explain everything when I return."

I turned back to look at Jack, who had a slight smirk on his face regarding Gerda's shocked expression, and was now on the balcony ledge. He extended a hand to me, and as I took it, he pulled me up to stand with him on the ledge for a split second, before sweeping me up into his arms.

He jumped off the ledge and we shot into the air, speeding towards our destination.

Pitch.

_**A/N: Chapter 11! Its kind of crazy how far this story has come since I first began writing it! And i will continue to apologize for the late update, but I'm going to Disney to compete at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Center in 3 weeks, so my practice schedule is ridiculous! :( **_

_**But anyways, just a heads up that the next chapter will take a while to write and edit, being as yes it will be the battle! So please bear with me!**_

**_I also wanted to give another big shout out to those of you who have reviewed and given feedback! Thank you so much and I am grateful for y'all! :) _**

**_R&R please! Feel free to review and give me your own feedback, I love to hear from y'all! :)_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12: One Last Chance**_

We continued flying for what felt like hours, which was really only minutes. Time was dragging by right now, most likely due to the fact that I was extremely nervous about the rescue. A part of me was hoping that Pitch wouldn't be there, that we could sneak in, get Anna, and sneak out. But I knew that wasn't possible being as the reason Pitch took her, I assumed, was to draw Jack and I to come find her.

What he intended on doing to us when we reached Anna, was still unknown and haunting my thoughts, but I assumed it would be related to his obsession with revenge. I still didn't know why Pitch had such a deep hatred for Jack, and I wanted to find out. Jack had told me the story of how the Guardians had defeated Pitch last time, so I guess I could understand why he was bitter and wanted revenge. But why just Jack?

"Elsa?" Jack called to me, breaking my thoughts with the sound of his deep voice.

"Yes?" I answered, turning to look at him and discovering he had already been staring at me. I felt a slight blush sweeping across my cheeks, simply from the way he was looking at me.

"There's something I forgot to mention about Pitch's lair." He said innocently. I gave him a small smile, encouraging him to continue, "Its in the modern world."

My face contorted into an extremely confused look as I tried to wrap my mind around what he said, and he laughed at my reaction.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked, helplessly confused.

He chuckled again before responding, "I mean, that Pitch's lair is in my hometown Burgess...which also happens to be in the modern world."

"Okay..." I started slowly, still not fully comprehending what he was saying about there being another world of some kind.

"That means we have to travel to the future to get there." He explained with a warm smile. I sat there trying to process his words, trying to understand that there was another world, a more advanced world, than that of Arendelle. I had a million questions swarming around my mind, and slowly felt the impending headache creep in, but I chose to focus on how we would get there.

"Okay, so how do we travel to the future?" I finally spoke up.

"Well, I have to create a portal for us to travel through that will take us directly to Burgess."

"Do you just use your powers to create it?" I asked incredulously. Jack and I had the same powers, so did that mean that I was capable of time travel as well?

"Well, not exactly." He said. "The Guardians all have the ability to create these portals to transport them to other realms like Neverland and Wonderland." He explained nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal that he had constant access to the different realms.

My eyes widened in both disbelief and excitement, as I gave in to my childish side that was curious to know more. I also knew of Neverland and Wonderland, as I had read these stories growing up and always fell in love with them. I loved the idea of being able to escape to a different world, and not having to grow up or hold back your curiosity.

"Wait, they're real?"

He chuckled, "Well, yes-" he started but I blurted another question before he could finish, letting out all of my curiosity at once.

"And you have the ability to go there? Whenever you want?"

"Well, yeah...how else do you think they have Christmas or Easter? What do you think they do with their recently lost teeth? How do you think they get good dreams? And most important of all, how do you think they have fun in those isolated worlds?!" He explained, slowly becoming more and more excited as he did.

"Wow...I guess I never thought of that. Well probably because I didn't know they were real...wow!"

He laughed, "Well now you know!"

"You never cease to amaze me, Jack." I thought aloud. It wasn't until I looked back at him, to see his shocked face, that I realized I had said it out loud.

"Ummm...I...uh..." I stammered, trying to find words to piece together to make a logical sentence, which wasn't working very well.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Maybe I could take you to see them sometime." He offered, trying to make the situation less awkward. It worked as my mood brightened at the sound of visiting the place of some of my favorite childhood stories.

_Although, I read so often as a child, I had way too many favorite stories. _

"That would be incredible!" I responded to his offer. He just smiled back at me, before looking back to watch where he was going. We had already had a few close calls with trees and such, due to his lack of attention and abundance of available distractions.

He came to a sudden stop, and carefully let my legs drop while squeezing me tighter to him with the arm that was around my waist. I looked up at him with a look of confusion in regards to the sudden stop, and he just gave me his signature half smirk. The half smirk that, if I had been standing on sold ground, would have made me weak in the knees. He pulled a small silver ring out of his sweatshirt pocket that resembled a ring of royalty, that had a large cursive 'G' inscribed into it. In the center of the little crook in the 'G' there was a gem that seemed to reflect every color possible from the sunlight. He held it up and spoke to it,

"I wish to travel to Burgess, Pennsylvania, in the Modern World."

As soon as he spoke those words, the gem on the ring started flashing many colors, before it glowed a bright white. In front of us, the sky seemed to twist and become distorted, as a swirling vortex appeared in front of us. The image was blurry, but I could faintly make out the appearance of a very strange looking town.

Jack grabbed my hand, and I looked up at him, giving me a look as if to ask me if I was ready. I nodded in response and we flew forward, into the vortex, and just as soon as we had entered it we were out of it again. I turned around to see the vortex disappearing behind us, and the gem on the ring Jack had, glowed one last time before returning to its normal state. He tucked it away, back into his sweatshirt pocket, and picked up my legs again so I was being cradled in his arms, hundreds of feet in the air. He looked down at me with a new expression of seriousness, his eyes that normally sparked with curiosity, were now dull and distracted.

"Let's go find Pitch." Was all he said to me, before shooting forward to continue our journey to Pitch's lair.

We continued flying in silence after that, and I was silently hoping Jack wasn't still thinking about what I'd said earlier. But I figured he was most likely worrying about the upcoming confrontation, the actual problem, instead of my little confession.

I looked down and saw a place where many children had gathered and were playing amongst themselves, climbing on metal bars and swinging on a swing set. Jack explained this to me, and told me this was the park. As the park passed by, I moved on to see rows and rows of homes next to each other on what appeared to be streets. In front of most of the houses were some odd looking contraptions crafted of metal and glass, that seemed to have seats of some sort inside of them.

_What a strange kingdom this is..._

I moved my attention to a fairly heavily forested area and, once we got closer, saw a pond that was surrounded by the tall trees, and a rocky cliff overhang. When we reached the far end of the pond, Jack began descending lower and lower until his feet touched the grassy ground. He gently placed my legs on the ground, and it took me a moment to get used to walking again, after flying for so long, so I grabbed onto arms for support. Once I had regained my composure, I walked over to the ponds edge and glanced into the water, looking at my reflection. I gasped at the way my hair looked, as the previously slightly tousled French braid was now a destroyed, platinum mess.

"Jack! Why didn't you tell me I looked like this?" I whined to Jack.

"Like what?" He asked.

"This." I said, gesturing to my messy hair, and horribly wrinkled dress.

He just held up his arms in defeat and shrugged his shoulders innocently. I rolled my eyes before turning to smooth out my dress with a flick of my wrist, repairing the ice material of it with my magic. Once that was finished I undid my braid and combed it through, yelping in pain as I went through each knot. I quickly wove my fingers in and out of my hair, rebraiding the platinum locks and pushing back my short bangs.

"You know you don't have to get all gorgeous to go kick Pitch's ass." He said with a smirk.

_Gorgeous? Is that what he thought of me? _

"I'm just trying to fix the mess you made of me with your reckless flying!" I countered, pursing my lips in a playful pout.

He stepped closer to me, bringing his face close to mine and stared into my eyes in a playfully intimidating manner.

"Well, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be here, now would you?" He teased, raising an eyebrow.

I tried my best to glare at him, but he threw me his most dashing and dazzling smile, and I couldn't help but smile back. I shoved him playfully and he smirked once more at me, acknowledging his minor victory, and we started walking off towards the woods. We came across a small clearing where there appeared to be a fairly large hole in the ground covered by a broken wooden bed frame. As I got closer I saw that the hole was far deeper than I had originally anticipated, and I went to lean over to look into it, but Jack stopped me by placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked at his face and realized he had tensed up again, and the dull look in his eyes had returned.

"This is..." I started before I realized the answer to my own question. It was Pitch's lair.

He simply nodded and I felt a large lump starting to form in my throat again as my nerves kicked up. I was here to save my sister and bring her home safely, and I knew that meant having to confront Pitch again. Which is the last thing I wanted to do, right now, but its what I had to do for Anna.

I nodded and took a deep breath, "Okay...let's go." I moved forward to begin descending down the hole, albeit I had no idea how I was going to, before Jack stopped me yet again.

"Wait, here. I'm going down first." He said.

"But-" I tried protesting but he turned around to face me again and once I saw his eyes that were filled with fear, I bit my tongue and kept quiet. He turned back around and jumped into the hole, using the wind to slow him down, and I ran over to look down into it.

"Alright, now jump down." He said calmly, his voice in a hushed tone, as he extended his arms out to show he would catch me.

I was a bit scared to jump at first, afraid of having to fall before being caught in his arms, but after a moment, I did. I squeezed my eyes shut as I fell down rather rapidly, before I hit something fairly hard. I peeked one eye open to see Jack looking down at me, and I smiled at him. "Thanks." I whispered.

He just smiled in return as he set my feet down on the ground beneath us, and he moved in front of me to walk through a dark tunnel. I felt my nerves really kicking up now, as I was heading into a tunnel of darkness, about to face the sinister man who stole my sister in her sleep. Jack looked back at me, before entering the tunnel and saw that I was scared, so he took my hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. I felt much more comfortable being in Jack's protection, but I still couldn't help the fact that my fear was bubbling up inside of me, threatening to spill over and cause a breakdown. I saw a small source of dim light coming from the end of the tunnel, and as we approached I realized that we had reached the heart of his lair.

The overall appearance seemed to be that we were in a dark cave of sorts, with high ceilings and jagged rock structures protruding from places. There were cages that were made to look like birdcages hanging from the ceiling all over the place. I scanned every one of the cages until my eyes caught on to a lump, lying motionless, that looked like my sister.

_Oh god is she okay? Please tell me she's not... _

I looked over at Jack who was surveying the lair, to be ready if and when Pitch came out from wherever he was hiding. I nudged his arm to get his attention and pointed to the cage that contained the unmoving body of my sister. He saw the scared look in my eyes intensify as he looked back at me, concerned as well seeing that she wasn't moving.

"Alright stay here, I'm going to fly up to her and make sure she's alright."

I watched as he flew up to her cage and went to where he could see her face, before lightly rapping on the metal bars of the cage. I saw her starting to stir, and felt an immediate sense of relief wash over me at the discovery of my sister still being alive.

I was so distracted by observing Jack and my sister, that I was completely caught off guard when I felt a hand clamp across my mouth from behind, and something cold press against my neck. I let out a muffled cry, with alerted both Jack and my now fully awake sister to the situation I was in.

"Elsa!" Anna cried out to me, fear filling her voice, as well as her eyes.

I looked at Jack who seemed to be frozen in sheer terror as he took in the scene before him, before I watched his face turn to rage, bringing his staff up defensively.

"Ah, so much fear in one place...it's quite exciting, you know. For me that is." Pitch said in a voice filled with wicked happiness, as he held the blade made of black sand to my throat.

"Pitch." Jack growled. "Let her go." His piercing glare towards Pitch was deadly, and as he spoke his words, his voice was sharp as a dagger.

Pitch made a face to seem as though he were actually contemplating releasing me, before he concluded, "Mmm, no." He said. "But make a single move and she dies."

He laughed coldly while removing his hand from my mouth to my waist, pulling me up against him. I felt shivers going up and down my spine, causing me to shake noticeably for a moment.

"Is the Ice Queen cold? Or is that fear being inflicted into your soul?" He teased in an extremely condescending manner.

I gritted my teeth, and struggled to think of a way to get myself out of this mess, but my thoughts were interrupted by Pitch again.

"Hmm, what I could do to you, my Queen, is unspeakable." He purred while stroking my hip with his hand, before it started slinking lower to my thigh. I tried to squirm away and free myself from his horrible grip, but he only squeezed me tighter against him.

"I've got to hand it to you Jack, you sure do know how to pick them." He teased. I looked up at Jack, who was now boiling with anger, with pleading eyes, but I knew he was already trying to think of some way to get me out of this as well. I reached down and removed Pitch's hand from my thigh, but he grabbed onto mt hand and held it before I could pull away.

"Pitch let her go! She's done nothing to you!" Anna yelled, furiously. She appeared very angry, but I knew she was terrified as well.

"You, dear girl, will be next if you don't learn to keep your mouth shut and stop interfering with other people's battles." He hissed. "After all, that is why we are all in this mess. Because Jack couldn't keep to himself and stay out of a fight that was never his!"

"You made it my fight, when you started destroying the Guardians and going after the children!" Jack yelled back at him.

As Pitch was distracted with Jack, I took this as my opportunity to strike back and free myself from his clutches. I quickly reached up and grabbed the hand of his that was holding the knife to my throat. I summoned my powers and sent a wave of my power up his arms, quickly freezing them into blocks of solid ice. He cried out in pain, as I scurried to get away from him, before coming back the his senses and lunging at me with black sand starting to swirl around him.

Jack quickly came to my defense and flew towards Pitch, hurling a shot of his icy blue power at him. Pitch dodged the attack with ease and shot back a large blast of sand with a flick of his wrist. Jack's eyes widened as he saw the oncoming wave of sand, but he swung his staff in a circular motion, freezing it all and causing it to fall to the ground and shatter.

As Jack landed, Pitch started rapidly approaching him and that's when I stepped in and attacked Pitch from behind, shooting an icicle at him that hit his arm and made a fairly deep cut. He screamed in pain again and whirled around to discover that Jack and I had him surrounded, as we were circling around him one on either side. Suddenly, he literally melted into the creeping shadows along the floor and disappeared, no where to be seen.

I scanned all around the dark cave, trying to locate him and saw something out of the corner of my eye. I turned around to find nothing there and instead, nervously glanced up at my terrified sister.

That's when I saw him.

Pitch was standing on the top of her cage, looked down at me with a dark look of rage plastered across his features. I glared back at him, and he just flicked his wrist in Jack's direction, forming horses of black sand that surrounded him on all sides. They seemed to be in a fighting stance, as if waiting for the command to attack.

"This is your last chance to accept my previous offer, Elsa." He sneered down at me.

I looked over at Jack whose eyes had widened from both the amount of black stallions now surrounding him and hearing of Pitch making a deal with me.

"What offer?" He growled at Pitch, before turning to me, "Elsa what is he talking about?"

I gave him an apologetic look, then turned back to Pitch furrowing my brow in rage again. "I will never make a deal with you, Pitch." I spat out his name like a piece of bad chocolate.

His face hardened a bit, before he seemed to relax and straightened his posture again. He called another nightmare horse to come over to him, and he climbed onto it and off of Anna's cage.

"Fine, so be it." He snapped his fingers and as soon as he did, all hell broke loose. The swarm of nightmares started attacking Jack all at once, and he was struggling to fight them off. I was about to turn and help him, before Pitch spoke again.

"Not so fast, Elsa. Didn't you come here to save your poor sister?" He said in a voice so cold, I could almost feel my body temperature dropping.

I turned back just in time, to see Pitch shoot an arrow of black sand that cut through the chain hanging the cage from the ceiling. The cage started falling rapidly towards the chasm below it, and Anna's screams filled my ears before she hit her head on the ceiling of her hard, rendering her unconscious.

I also heard someone else's screams, Jack's. He was being maliciously attacked by the nightmares and was left almost entirely defenseless against them. But Pitch had concocted another swarm of them and was sending then towards me, all the while Anna was still falling. There was so much happening I thought I might die from the headache it was causing.

I quickly flicked my wrist in the direction of where Anna's cage was falling, then raised it up bringing with me a pillar of ice that the cage landed on. Anna was lying limply in the cage and all I could do was hope she was alright.

While I was distracted with saving the cage from disappearing into the chasm, the swarm of nightmares had surrounded me, and I quickly found myself in the predicament Jack had been in before. I shot ice as quickly as I could to all of them around me, but it still wasn't enough as they continue to knock me over. I was on the ground on my hands and knees, and I then focused as hard I could on my powers before standing up and exploding, sending ice shards flying all around me. As each horse was impaled, it froze to solid ice, then fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces.

I quickly turned my attention back to Jack who was losing the fight terribly, and ran over to help him. I stomped my foot, creating a large wave of ice, then thrust my arms forward pushing it. It came crashing into the nightmares like a tsunami, destroying them all. I pulled it back, giving Jack enough time to crawl out from behind it, before it smashed into the wall. I was bent over with my hands on my knees, he was sprawled on the floor on his back, and we were both breathing heavily.

"Are...are you okay?" I managed to choke out.

He nodded and extended and arm to me, to help him stand up. He stood up and turned to face me, looking a bit hurt. "W-why...didn't you...t-tell me about his...offer." He said between breaths.

I felt guilty for not telling him before, but at the time, it was best that I didn't worry him anymore than he already was.

"I didn't want to worry, you." I looked down as I fidgeted with my fingers, "I'm sorry, Jack." My voice cracked on the last part form the emotion I was allowing myself to show.

He stepped towards me and held both of my arms, "It's okay, don't worry about it." He said, "Now are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asked me, the concern rising in his voice with each word.

I nodded, "Yes I'm fine but Anna..." I stopped mid-sentence remembering that Anna was still in the cage, unconscious. "Oh my god, Anna!"

I ran over to the where the stone ended, and the chasm began, right in front of the ice pillar I had made for the cage to land on. I formed an ice path across the chasm to the spot where the cage was, and quickly ran across it to get to Anna. Jack followed quickly behind, and stood there beside me while I looked at the heavy metal lock that was on the cage.

I decided I would try to control my powers in a different way this time, to try to break off the lock. I stood back and extended my hand with my palm up, covering the lock in a layer of ice, then slowly started to curl my fingers in. The ice was spreading to the center of the lock, and when I clenched my fingers into a fist, it shattered with the ice.

I was shocked at what I had just done, I knew I could manipulate ice and snow, but I didn't know I could manipulate it like that.

Jack next to me gasped in shock as well, "How did you do that?"

I just shrugged before tuning into the cage to get to Anna and make sure she was alright. I checked her pulse and it was still strong, plus she was breathing, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

"She's alright, she's just unconscious." I said.

Jack picked her up in his arms, turned to me and said, "Alright, now let's get the hell out of here before Pitch comes back."

I nodded in return and followed him out of the cave and back through the tunnel where we found the hole we entered through. He flew up and gently placed Anna on the ground, before coming back down to bring me up through the hole.

Jack turned to me, with an exhausted expression on his face, but still faintly smiling.

"Come on, let's get you two back to Arendelle."

_**A/N: That took a very long time for me to write and edit, especially considering I'm unbelievably busy and somewhat lacking in the department of creativity lately :(**_

_**But anyways, Jack and Elsa kicked Pitch's ass so bad he ran away from the fight XD , and now Anna is safe! Yay! **_

_**The next chapter should start with the reunion back at the castle in Arendelle mostly because (I'm not going to lie to you) I have absolutely no idea how Jack was going to carry them both back while flying...so being the honorable author I am, I chose to skip it...don't hate me haha**_

_**R&R please! I love hearing your feedback and I get a lot of both inspiration and good ideas from all of y'all!**_


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 13: For the First Time in Twenty Years_**

Jack and I were quickly walking through the gardens behind the castle, in hopes of getting Anna to rest soon. He was carrying her in his arms, still being in her unconscious state, up towards the back entrance of the castle near the dining room. I squinted to look closer at the windows in the dining room overlooking the garden we were in, and saw both Kai and Gerda rush over to the door. As they burst out Gerda became frantically worried about Anna, and ran towards the three of us.

"Oh, you had us so worried! Are all of you alright? Is there anything I can get you, your majesty?" She rambled.

I held up my hand, dismissing her worried rant and assured her, "Yes we are fine, but Anna may need medical help. We shall call for the royal physician in the morning, but for now she needs to rest."

"Yes of course, your majesty." She replied with a small curtsey before turning to Kai, gesturing for him to take Anna from Jack.

Kai did just that, removing the weight from the already exhausted Jack, and hurrying to bring her limp body to her bedroom. As Gerda followed behind, rushing into the castle behind them, Jack and I were left alone in the castle gardens. I looked over at the spirit, who was clearly beat from the actions of the past few days. I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn his gaze to me, his tired blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Thank you so much, Jack." I said to him with a small smile.

He seemed confused at first, "For what?"

"Anna is everything to me, Jack, and losing her would've been unbearable. But thanks to you I dont have to worry about that now."

"Well I'd do anything for...a friend." He paused before saying next, "Well actually its more than that, I'd do anything for _you_."

I was touched by his words, slightly shocked, but still happy to hear how he felt. Secretly I knew I would do the same for him, and I could understand what he meant by that, but the way he paused before saying 'friend' made me wonder. Clearly I was aware of how close Jack and I had become since our first meeting, but I couldn't help but wonder if we would continue to get closer. If we would ever be..._more_ than friends.

_Oh Elsa, that's ridiculous!_

I quickly so pushed the thoughts back and tried to bring myself back to the conversation I was having with Jack. But the thought still lingered, while I continued to stare into Jack's eyes.

"Thank you, Jack. That means the world to me..."

_ ...and so do you...No! Stop that, you can't do this to yourself!_

Jack shifted uncomfortably before taking a deep breath, "So, what happens now?"

I gave him a confused look, as my smile slowly faded into a frown, "What do you mean?"

"It would seem as though our time together is over." He said sadly, looking down at the ground. "You and Anna have returned safely, you are to return to your stressful queenly duties, and all will return to as it was. Before I met you at the ice palace."

I let his words sink in for a moment, realizing that I had forgotten entirely about that. He was right, my vacation job the mountains was over, and everything was to return to how it was. But I didn't want things to change back to how they were now. I didn't want Jack to leave me yet.

"Jack its late, and you look exhausted. I think you should get some rest, and we can deal with that issue in the morning." I said flicking my eyes in the direction of the castle, silently asking him to stay here.

He gave me small smile, but I could tell he was still upset about the circumstances. He nodded in response to my vague offer and followed me inside to the castle through the doors Kai, Gerda and Anna had entered by earlier. We walked in a comfortable silence up to my room, before I stopped in front of a door that was across the hall from my room.

"You can stay in this room." I said, gesturing to the guest room in front of us. "And if you didn't recognize, that's my room right across from it." I said, turning to look at my door, before turning to look back at him.

He smiled down at me, and just reached forward, pulling me into a hug. I gladly hugged him back and buried my face in his chest, secretly not wanting to let him go. _Ever_.

When we finally pulled away from our embrace, he leaned forward and kissed my forehead, "Goodnight, Elsa."

"Goodnight, Jack." I whispered to him, before we each turned and retired to our respective rooms. Once inside my room, I leaned against the door and sank down the floor, bringing my knees into my chest. I remembered being in this same position four years ago when my parents had passed, except this time my emotions weren't sad. This time I wasn't grieving, instead, I was left with a certain feeling inside of me that I couldn't quite identify. I sat there for what felt like an eternity, just mulling over my thoughts and trying to make sense of what I felt. But now matter how hard I tried to think I couldn't figure out what I was feeling and what it meant. And the fact that I could not get the conversation from earlier with Jack, out of my mind wasn't helping either. The way he hesitated around using the word friend, and how he admitted he'd do anything for me, all just seemed to make my head spin.

I decided it would be a good idea to try to get some sleep, considering it had been a very long few days, and I was still exhausted from today's fight. Plus I wanted to take my mind off of Jack and my feelings for a while, so I got up from the floor and slowly walked over to my bed. I flicked my wrist lazily and formed a night gown from my magic, before crawling into my bed and under the covers. I felt myself drifting off to sleep with a mix of emotions still flying around my head. Relief that Anna was safe, dread from the thought of returning to work, and confusion in my feelings towards Jack.

I heard a loud knock on my bedroom door, and groaned as I turned over to place the pillow over my head and return to sleep. I could feel some sunlight shining on the bare skin of my shoulders, and gathered as much that it was morning, but I was still unprepared to tear myself from my comfortable bed.

"Elsa!" I heard a voice calling my name from behind my door, and in my groggy state yelled back,

"Go away, Anna!" I heard a low chuckle in response, before the door clicked open and I heard footsteps coming into the room. Footsteps that seemed too heavy to be Anna's. The footsteps continued until they had reached the side of my bed, and a deep voice interrupted my attempt at sleep.

"Its not Anna." The voice chuckled. Upon hearing that familiar voice I was immediately awake and alert, as I bolted up and snapped my eyes open.

There stood none other than Jack Frost, smirking down at me, as he looked me over in my newly awakened state.

"Sorry, I was a little out of it." I said blushing, before realizing I was still only in my night gown and pulled the covers up to cover my fairly exposed body.

He just laughed again, "Its okay, but one of the servants wanted me to fetch you, to attend to Anna. The royal physician is here and would like to speak with you as well."

My eyes widened, "Anna! Has she examined her yet? Is she okay?" I rushed out, as I remembered the events of yesterday.

"Well I think she's fine, but I wasn't allowed in the room with her, being as no one knows who I am. So she asked for you instead, most likely to deliver her findings and possible instructions for her care." He explained.

"Oh, well allow me to compose myself and I shall be there shortly." I said, softly smiling at him as he nodded, then left me alone again to change and make myself a bit more...presentable. I cringed upon looking at my reflection in the mirror, before going over to the basin filled with water to wash my face. I didn't even bother adding makeup to my face, and sloppily put my hair in a variation of its usual bun. I looked more cleaned up than I had previously, but still somewhat messy for the standards of being Queen.

_Oh well...they'll just have to deal with it._

I waved my arm in an upwards motion, starting from my mid thigh, and transformed my night gown into a dress more fitting for a Queen. I crafted a navy blue dress that had seafoam green and magenta accents swirling along the bodice, down the sleeves, and along the skirt. I chose to skip the cape, being as it was a bit too much for simply working around the castle. I slipped on a pair of magenta flats, and headed out of my door to find Anna and the physician. I knocked on Anna's door and waited to hear a reply from the physician.

"Come in!" I heard a female voice call back to me, so I pushed the door open slightly and peeked my head in, before fully stepping in.

"Ah, your majesty! So good to see you have returned, and without many visible injuries, I might add." She beamed.

I had a slightly confused look on my face, showing I didn't recognize this woman who was sitting near my sisters bedside. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back, and piercing blue eyes that resembled the color of the ocean.

"Oh, pardon my manners! I am Melody Coralsen, and I'm the new royal physician. I'm taking over for my mother, Ariel Coralsen, who was the previous physician for the royal family of Arendelle." She introduced herself.

"Well its a pleasure to meet you Ms. Coralsen-"

"Oh please, your majesty, feel free to call me Melody!" She interrupted me with a smile and a very happy attitude.

"Yes, well if you don't mind my asking, Melody, how is my sister?" I asked a little impatient, and anxious to hear about my sister.

"Oh, she will easily make a smooth recovery, I have no doubt of that. However, your majesty, I would like to speak with you..." She trailed off and cleared her throat while glancing at Kai and Gerda standing in the corner, "...alone."

Both of the servants looked at me, as if seeking confirmation and I simply nodded in response, causing them to shuffle out of the room. Once the door was closed again, I turned to Melody,

"What is this about?" I questioned curiously, and somewhat nervously, as I moved to the bed beside Melody and a sleeping Anna.

"I have news of your sister's health that I guessed you might have wanted to discuss in private."

I gulped and tried to swallow the lump that was forming in my throat as I spoke, "Continue..."

"The princess is with child!" She exclaimed excitedly.

I mentally tripped over her words as I tried comprehending the idea of my sister becoming a mother.

"You mean Anna...she's going to be ...a mother...a-and...oh my goodness!" I stuttered, still incredibly shocked at the news.

"Yes, isn't that wonderful news? Oh, I'm sure she'll be ecstatic, as well as the rest of Arendelle! It has been a good twenty years since there's been a newborn in the royal family." Melody was still beaming at this point, possibly showing more excitement than I had, but I was still in shock.

"I'm sure everyone will be happy, especially Anna." I said before another thought came to me,

"Is the baby okay?" I was still paranoid about her health, and especially now that she had the baby to worry about as well. I silently made a promise that if any harm had come to the baby, I would personally kill Pitch myself.

"Oh yes, the child is fine, but you were right about her needing her rest. She should wake up in a few hours, but until then I suggest letting her be and continue to sleep."

I nodded in response, and with that Melody started to get up to walk out before turning back to me again.

"I'll go ahead and schedule all of her standard appointment dates, and let you know the information later. I wish you all the best, and of course let me know if you need anything!" She chimed.

"Thank you, and we'll be sure to keep you involved in this journey with us, considering none of us know what were doing." I lightly joked, acknowledging her offer before she disappeared through the door and back to her workplace.

I continued sitting in Anna's bedroom, at the edge of the bed near her feet, thinking about the adventure this entire castle was about to got through. Melody was right, it had been twenty years since there was a newborn in the castle, and it would definitely be a change from the normally full and quiet atmosphere. Naturally, I was extremely excited for Anna to be a mother, and another part of me was secretly hopeful I would get to experience that someday...

"Anna!" A certain blonde male came running in, and I had to glare at him and bring a finger up to my lips to signal for him to be quiet.

"Oh, sorry! I was told I wasn't allowed to visit her when she first returned last night, so I came to see her as soon as I could this morning." He rambled in a whispering tone.

I just giggled, "Yes Kristoff, she is going to be fine...perfect actually." I said smirking as I thought about her current state. Kristoff didn't know about Anna's pregnancy, and I knew it wasn't my place to tell him, so I wasn't going to. That was a very special moment to be shared between the parents, and I knew Anna would appreciate that.

"Oh thank god!" He sighed in relief, "You have no idea how scared I was that I'd never see her again. That we'd never be married or have the opportunity to start a family." Although his statement was one of sadness, he smiled a bit at the mention of starting a family. I smiled too, knowing what he didn't yet, and at seeing him flushed with happiness and excitement.

"Trust me, Kristoff, that's in the past now, and I have a feeling things are all about to fall in place."

He seemed a bit confused by my words at first, before thinking about what I had said and agreed.

"I hope you're right, all I want is to give Anna her happily ever after. She deserves it." He said with a big smile on his face.

_Yes she does._

_**A/N: Nooo Jack don't leave Elsa! She needs you! She may not be ready to admit it...but...yeah. **__**And Kristoff is in for a little surprise! How do you guys think he will react?! **__**So yes I am making the transition of things back to normal at the castle, so just fluff from both pairings and more fun to come from them all!**_

_**Little tip for y'all: the more reviews we get, the sooner we will get to Anna's wedding!**_

_**R&R! Please feel free to give me some of your advice and feedback, or just general reactions to things as they come! I love hearing from talk, and when I'd not...I get sad :( sad author = not good**_

_**Roxas5717: **_**_Yeah I guess I get a little carried away sometimes, when writing intense scenes, so I apologize in advance for that but also, thank you for pointing that out to me! As well as thank you for your support for this fanfic, it means a lot to me, so thanks a lot! I expect to hear more from ya soon! :)_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter 14: Guests**_

_**Jack's POV**_

I woke up this morning knowing that I'd have to confront Elsa about what she had, ever so skillfully, avoided last night. And apparently she was very good at busying herself this morning as well, considering I hadn't seen her all day. It was ridiculous that she was already becoming so busy, especially considering she returned last night, but she did say it was always like that. Which is why I was convinced it was best that I leave, and each us of returned to our normal lives.

Well no, actually, I wasn't convinced at all, in fact I hated the thought of having to bring this up to Elsa and of course having to actually leave...

Besides my Guardianship, Elsa was the best thing that had ever happened to me and I didn't want to just walk away from it all and pretend it never happened. For all those years before I had always felt like there was no one out there who would be able to see me, let alone make me feel the way she does. And now that I had found that one person, it didn't seem fair that I had to leave it all behind and return to my never ending solitude.

I really didn't want to leave, I was dreading it, but knew that it was best for Elsa to be able to move on with her life.

After all, I'd do anything for Elsa.

_**Elsa's POV **_

Kristoff and I sat in silence for a while longer, both of us most likely thinking about Anna, but not in the same way. He finally broke our thoughtful silence, "Why don't you go get some breakfast?"

I'll admit getting breakfast did sound like a good idea, but I was still extremely over protective of her, and not necessarily hungry either.

"But what about Anna?"

"I'll stay with her of course. Now go on and enjoy your last few moments of freedom before beginning work again." He chuckled at the last part.

I groaned, realizing how accurate his words were considering I would return to work today, "Thank you, Kristoff. Oh and if she does wake, please inform me at once, Melody said she should wake in a few hours, but just in case." I rambled before quickly slipping out of the room, heading back to my own room.

I wasn't sure why I had come back to my room, considering my original intentions were to head to the kitchen, but surprisingly enough I wasn't hungry. Instead I walked over to the doors of my balcony and opened them, letting in the warm morning sunlight. I smiled as it hit my face, and I walked out onto the balcony and glanced down, looking at all of Arendelle below me. The town was already bustling with activity, the stores were all opening, the citizens were all shuffling to run errands, and the children were excitedly heading out play. I took a mental note of how nice the weather was today, especially since I was never one to appreciate the heat, but it reminded me of Anna. Anna always seemed to love all things warm and sunny, so I dedided it might be a fun idea for the two of us to walk around town for a while, whenever she woke.

I hadn't spent much time with Anna lately, and after almost losing her, I felt guilty about that and wanted to change it. Not to mention, I still had to tell my dearest sister of the news that she herself didn't even know yet. I started imagining how she might react upon me telling her, and visions of her either squealing or crying with joy popped into my head. I felt a smile grace my lips as I was lost in my thoughts, still gazing out at Arebdelle below me.

Suddenly, something caught my eye, a man racing through Arendelle to reach the castle on a tan horse. When he arrived at the castle, he seemed very impatient and anxious, as he pounded on the large wooden gates that had been closed in my absence.

"I have a message for the Queen! Quickly, it is of the utmost importance!" He cried to the guards at the gates who refused to let him pass.

Upon hearing that from my balcony, I quickly turned and fled back through my room and into the hallway. I practically flew down the spiral staircase, leaving Gerda in a confused daze on the stairs, and towards the front entrance leading to the courtyard.

I was greeted at the door by Kai, "My lady there is a messenger who wishes to speak with you. I'm not sure what its about, but he demanded that it's urgent."

I simply nodded in response before rushing out the doors to the courtyard gates. I could hear the guards on the other side trying to calm him down, and convince him that I would attend to him soon.

"Please! You must let me see the Queen!" He continued yelling at the men. I took a hold of the handles on both of the large wooden gates and composed myself, before yanking them open to face the man. He quickly turned his attention from the guards, to me, and we locked eyes.

He seemed considerably young for his age, and had curly dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "Queen Elsa?... Of Arendelle?" The distraught man asked.

"Yes, and who might you be young man?" I asked cautiously in return, even though he didn't seem too much younger than me.

"I...I am Stenson, your majesty, and I come to you begging for your help!" He explained still somewhat breathless, presumably from his journey and recent tirade.

"One of our other messengers was here on another occasion when another woman, the princess, answered for you. I gave to her a letter describing our situation, asking if you would approve of our request."

My eyes widened at his words as I remembered that I had missed everything within the week I was gone.

"Well unfortunately there have been...certain events...which have prevented me from reading your letter. I'm afraid I haven't the slightest clue as to what youre referring to." I replied.

"Its a civil war. Our King has been accused of treason and murder, resulting in a massive war between the citizens of our kingdom."

I thought about his words for a moment, and about what it might feel like to have my own kingdom battling within itself. I shuddered at that thought before responding to him yet again.

"Well I'm not sure what I can do to help you...and where did you say you were from, Stenson?"

"I represent the kingdom of Noavida." He said, quickly bowing in my direction.

I nodded, acknowledging his gesture, "Well, I'm sorry to say, I have never heard of your kingdom before, but...I do have another question for you..."

"Yes, your majesty?"

I paused, as I carefully chose my words, "Why did you choose Arendelle? Surely you've heard of our...my...little incident last year. Many kingdoms are still very cautious with us, fearing another outburst...so why aren't you?

"The King left behind a son...the prince, your majesty, and he is in grave danger where he is right now. The letter was asking if you would allow him to stay here in Arendelle until this whole ordeal is over with. And believe me, my dear Queen, there are strange occurances and all is not as it seems in Noavida either." He explained.

I felt my heart sink upon hearing of this boy being left in the middle of a civil war, which happened to be over his own fathers murder charges. I couldn't help but feel a strong sense of compassion for the boy and the sudden urge to help him in any way I could. I was also confused by the last part he added, about things being strange in Noavida as well.

"By all means, the boy is welcome to stay here in Arendelle." I finally spoke up, making my final decision, and pushing away my growing curiosity about Noavida.

"Noavida thanks you, your majesty." He said bowing respectively again. "I shall return home immediately, and be back with the prince come midday tomorrow."

"Very well, then." I confirmed.

He turned and approached his horse, quickly mounting it, and spoke to me one last time, "Farewell, Queen Elsa."

He waved to me, before snapping the reigns and speeding off into the direction he originally came from. I stood there staring after Stenson in a bit of a daze until I heard the voice of one of the guards asking me something.

"The gates...shall we keep them open, your majesty?"

"Yes that is fine, thank you."

I turned and wandered back through the courtyard and into the castle to find Kai in the main foyer again.

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe that fellow has been here before, while you were gone." He said in regards to Stenson, who had disappeared into the mountains and forests surrounding Arendelle.

"Well a messenger of the same kingdom was here before, with an urgent message that I was unable to receive until now. Tell me Kai, have I missed any other important matters during the time of my absence?" I asked, my mind turning to all the things I must have missed, in addition to the predicament in Noavida.

"To be entirely honest, I'm not quite sure. Princess Anna said she was taking care of everything that was related to your work, so I assume its been taken care of." He replied.

I nodded at his words before sighing, "Well, we will need to prepare the castle for a guest. He arrives midday tomorrow."

Kai's face turned to a slight look of confusion, before he wiped it off and replaced it with his normal expression, responding to my order.

"Yes, of course, your majesty. I shall inform the rest of the servants at once to prepare a room and begin the elaborate process of cleaning the castle." He said with a smile before heading off, leaving me alone in the grand foyer again.

I sighed realizing it was already almost midday, and walked back up to my study. I stopped in front of the door, afraid of the sight that might be behind it, but gently opened it anyways. What I saw, however, shocked me entirely.

All of my letters and paperwork had been sorted and stacked into neat, organized piles atop my large wooden desk. As I entered the room, closing the door behind me, I walked over to the desk and saw multiple small notes scattered all over the piles. I picked one up and smiled as I read the clumsily scribbled note that had been written by none other than my dear little sister:

_Elsa,_

_I tried my best to respond to talk of the letters, but I wasn't sure what to do with these._

_-Anna_

I put down the note and returned my gaze to see two letters that had been sitting beneath it before I picked it up. I sat down in my chair sighing, realizing I'd have to begin working sooner or later, and picked one up. I looked at the seal on the front before opening it and stiffened up a bit upon recognizing its corresponding kingdom; The Southern Isles.

For about a year now, the King of the Southern Aisles, had been sending me letters regarding the status of Hans, as well as pleading for a trade agreement between kingdoms. He was the oldest of the thirteen brothers, Florian, and had taken the throne after his father passed shortly after the Great Thaw. Ever since then, King Florian had tried everything he possibly could, including sending extravagant gifts and numerous servants as apologies for his youngest brothers actions against Arendelle.

I, however, continued to reject his advances in trade as a precaution for the poeple of my own kingdom. I still didn't fully trust that Hans was incapable of returning to exact revenge upon us all, for some reason, so I kept a continued distance.

I quickly penned back a response to King Florian, describing the issues with his idea of an alliance between our two nations. I was already under an increasingly large amount of stress as it is, and I slowly felt it seep through me and into the letter I was writing back. Portions of it had been a tad bit harsh, but it had been an entire year of nonstop commotion from him to move on and bring our kingdoms together. He apparently didn't know how to take no for an answer.

"A little harsh don't you think?" A deep voice, coming from behind me, said jokingly. It scared me nearly half to death, causing me to literally jump from my seat, and almost knock over the piles of paperwork on my desk. I whirled around to see Jack raising an eyebrow at me, with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Jack! What are you...how did you get in here...without me noticing?" I asked, a bit flustered that he had been observing me the entire time without my knowledge of it.

He chuckled, "You were very distracted by that letter there, and I was able to easily sneak in here undetected." He stated proudly.

This time, I was the one who raised an eyebrow at him, "And just what were you doing reading the letter, over my shoulder?"

His expression quickly changed to a face full of guilt and his hand flew up to the back of his neck, where he began rubbing it nervously. I laughed and merely rolled my eyes in response, sitting back down in my seat and returning my attention to the letter.

"So who is this Florian guy?" He asked, after recomposing himself.

"King Florian of the Southern Isles, a persistent and very hopeful trade partner." I answered without looking up from the response I was still writing.

"What did he do to make you so mad at him?"

I put down my quill and turned to face him, "His younger brother is Hans, the man I told you about at the ice palace who tried to kill me, and left my sister to die so he could take Arendelle."

His eyes became wide with shock before they began to show a slight tinge of anger, upon hearing his name again. I remembered when I first told him the story of the Great Thaw, he had become enraged at the fact Hans would do such a thing.

"Oh _that_ guy again? I hope he's still rotting in jail for what he did to you." He muttered angrily

I sighed, "Yes he is, so I'm sure you could see how things would be tense between our kingdoms. Unfortunately, King Florian does not understand, so I must try to explain it to him." I said before returning once more to the letter, signing my name at the bottom, and enclosing it in an envelope. I stamped the seal of Arendelle across the flap, and placed it in the shorter pile of letters to be delivered.

I went to reach for the next letter, with a seal that I didn't recognize, when I noticed that Jack was still standing there awkwardly behind me.

"Is there anything else you needed, Jack?"

"Well...uhh...last night you said we would...um talk about something." He stammered nervously.

I thought for a moment before realizing what he was talking about, and also felt my mood rapidly dampen as I knew what he was trying to say. I only nodded, signalling him to continue.

"Now that I've returned you and Anna home safely, I think it might be best if we went our separate ways. For your sake, honestly, more than mine."

"No, Jack, don't leave just yet, stay for a while." I said, mildly pleading.

"You talked about how busy you get, and I've already started to see some of that, and the last thing you need is me lingering around where I'm not needed." He said, sadly.

I shook my head and took a step closer to him, "No Jack, its not like that at all. I don't see your presence as a burden, I see it as a gift that allows me to actually have fun." I said with a pained smile.

A small smile crept its way onto his lips and he took my hand in his, before it disappeared and he spoke again, "Elsa, I'm just trying to do what I think is most beneficial for you. And I think what you honestly don't need, and don't have time for, is me."

His words struck me like a bolt of lightning, and I immediately felt both guilt and sadness begin to surround my mind. I didn't want him to feel like he was unwelcome here and that we couldn't remain friends now that I was home.

"Plus, I am the Spirit of Winter, and do have the task of bringing the change of seasons to places all around the world. I would have to leave here for days at a time, bringing winter to the world." He added.

The thought of Jack leaving for a few days at a time to, essentially, do his job was bearable. But to think of him being gone forever, as if I'd never even met him, was something too painful to even comprehend, and I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes. He was my best friend and we'd become so close now, the last thing I wanted was for him to walk away and leave me. Not to mention the indescribable feeling I had whenever I was around him, that I so desperately wanted to figure out, would most likely vanish altogether.

"Jack, please don't leave yet." I whispered, closing my eyes in an attempt to force the tears, that were threatening to fall, back into my eyes.

I felt him squeeze my hand lightly and I opened my eyes to see his ice blue ones staring straight at me. "I'm just trying to do what's best." He whispered back.

I returned his intensive gaze and said back to him, "I don't want what's best, I want you to stay here with me."

He seemed a bit surprised at my words, as was I mentally, and couldn't seem to form a response so I spoke up again.

"Trust me Jack, you'd be causing me more pain by leaving, than you would by staying." I said with a small smile.

He smiled back gently in return and brought his hand up to my face, lightly stroking my cheekbone with his thumb.

"Well, the last thing I want to do is hurt you, Elsa." He said quietly.

"So you'll stay?" I asked, my voice audibly filled with hope.

He nodded and I suddenly felt my heart flutter with happiness and a huge smile spread across my face. I lunged forward and closed the small space that was between us, pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you, Jack." I whispered in his ear, and I felt his grip on me become tighter as he pulled me even closer to him.

I was beyond happy at the moment, and as far as I was concerned, nothing in the world could change the way I felt right now.

I stayed there with Jack in his arms for what felt like an eternity, a blissful eternity, before someone threw open the door to my study. I pulled back from Jack to see a breathless Kristoff looking as though he were the happiest man alive.

"Anna's awake!" He exclaimed.

I smiled widely before following Kristoff through the doors of my study and to Anna's room, pulling Jack with me.

_**A/N: Jacks gonna stay! Yay! Oh and Anna's awake! Lots of good news in this chapter for Elsa indeed :)**_

**_And as I'm sure you can tell, I've been adding new character in and I promise that they will serve a large purpose soon enough. The story is starting to turn a bit more and will be focused more on life in the castles well as Arendelle drama and whatnot...but have no fear, Pitch will be back. (Pun very much intended)_**

**_A BIG thank you to Shimmer Shine, Jack Overland Frost Frozen, Silverstream91, Rose (Hey, that's my first name!), and Roxas5717 for reviewing! Love y'all!_**

**_Little tip for y'all: the more reviews we get, the sooner we will get to Anna's wedding! Soooo keep em comin!_**

**_R&R! Please feel free to give me some of your advice and feedback, or just general reactions to things as they come! _**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter 15: An Evening in Town**_

We hurried through the halls of the castle, running past many doors, before reaching the one that led to Anna. Kristoff looked at me with a huge grin on his face, then turned and pushed open the door to reveal Anna sitting up on her bed. She looked at Kristoff and I standing at the entrance, neglecting to notice Jack standing there, and immediately jumped up and ran towards us.

"Elsa! Oh Elsa, you're alright!" She cried as she threw herself at me in one of her bear hugs.

"Anna! I was so worried about you!" I said in return while holding her tightly in my arms. Suddenly the thought of risking my life to save her, seemed like nothing, as long as she was here with me. I had already had two close calls with her, and both times my life felt completely empty without her presence. I realized it was pretty simple, I couldn't live without Anna.

"Elsa what happened? I remember being in that awful metal cage for what seemed like forever, and then you came in and...wait..." She pulled away from our hug, and looked at Jack who was still awkwardly standing in the doorway.

"YOU! You were there too...y-you said you were helping Elsa, that you were a friend of hers." She stuttered as the events of the fight slowly came back to her. As she spoke in Jack's direction, he stepped into the room to acknowledge the fact she was speaking to him, which caused Kristoff to finally notice his presence. The large blonde man just looked at Jack in confusion, before he quickly became skeptical.

"Who are you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in Jack's direction.

He cleared his throat and took another step into the room before responding, "My name is Jack, Jack Frost."

Kristoff seemed even more skeptical and confused as he heard this and pressed him for more information, "Like the Spirit of Winter, Jack Frost?"

"Yeah, that's me." He nervously chuckled back.

"And you said you're...friends with Elsa?" He asked incredulously.

"Am I not allowed to have friends, Kristoff? I intervened jokingly.

"Well yeah but...this guy? Some stranger with oddly white hair, who claims he's an immortal magical being?!"

Both Anna and I started giggling at the shocked and insulted expression that spread across Jack's face at hearing Kristoff's words. Kristoff looked over at what we were laughing at and just glared at Jack, who glared right back.

"Now Kristoff, let's not insult our guests." Anna said in a playful and motherly tone.

He opened his mouth to protest, but looked over at Anna who gave him a look he knew all too well, and decided against it.

"Fine." He mumbled stubbornly. "But I still don't believe this guy."

She sighed and spoke up again, "Kristoff, you were raised by trolls, have a reindeer for a best friend, live in a castle with a talking snowman, and your sister in law has the ability to manipulate ice...is it really that hard to believe?"

He pondered her words for a moment, while Jack came to stand by my side. I put my hand on his shoulder comfortingly, and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I guess not." He said with a small smile, realizing how hard to believe his own life must've been, and extending a hand to Jack.

"Kristoff Bjorgman, Anna's fiancé." He said, introducing himself.

Jack returned the gesture, "Jack Frost, Spirit of Winter and Guardian of Fun."

"Well, now that we've all been introduced, would someone mind telling me what happened while I was unconscious?" Anna asked cautiously.

Jack and I both glanced at each other nervously, before I nodded and spoke up first, "Well, how much do you remember?"

"All I remember was being in that cage, and seeing Pitch grab you from behind and put the dagger up to your throat. Then once you freed yourself the battle raged on between the three of you." She rambled, trying to recall as much as she could from yesterdays events.

I nodded in confirmation, and she continued, "He disappeared and then I heard someone on top of my cage; it was Pitch. And he was trying to make a deal or something? I don't know, but the next thing I knew, Jack was surrounded by nightmares and I was falling."

"Well, that's most of what happened. After he shot the arrow at your cage, you started falling rapidly and you hit your head on the ceiling of it. I had to create a pillar of ice to stop the cage from falling into the chasm below you." I explained, and watched as her eyes grew wide with disbelief.

"Then she had to come save my sorry self, as I was losing a fight to a bunch of sand.' Jack said, sounding jokingly bitter, as he looked at me and smiled.

I laughed, "Pretty much. Then after that, I broke you out of the cage and we fled back to Arendelle."

I looked over at Anna whose eyes were filled with tears as she threw herself at, this time, both Jack and I. Jack seemed a bit shocked at first but, I dropped my hand down to his and gave it a small squeeze, while each of us returned Anna's hug.

"Thank you, both of you, so so much!" She said into my shoulder, allowing a tear to fall.

"Anna I would do anything for you, I love you." I whispered back to her, causing her to hold me tighter, making Jack feel a bit uncomfortable, still being in the now awkward group hug. He careful pried himself from her vice-like grip, where she let go and focused all of her attention to me, and he moved to stand over by Kristoff.

"Seriously, thanks...I don't know what I'd do if anything had happened to her...I just wish I would've been here to protect her." He said shamefully to Jack.

Jack gave him an sympathetic smile, "Hey, no worries. She's safe now and that's all that matters."

Kristoff gave him a small smile back and nodded before turning to look at Anna and I who had already broken apart, and were witnessing the small act of bonding between the two.

I cleared my throat before turning to inform them, "Anna and I are going to go for a walk around Arendelle, and should be back in time for dinner."

I turned to Kristoff before continuing, "In the mean time, do you think you could show Jack around the castle? And possibly introduce him to a few people so they don't think he's just some stranger? Afterall he's much more than that..." I added, blushing a bit at the last part.

I looked at Jack who had a big grin on his face, and then to Kristoff who nodded in confirmation. "Of course, enjoy your time together ladies."

Anna went over to Kristoff and gave him a lasting hug and a quick kiss, bidding him farewell for the time being, before returning to my side. I turned and waved to Jack with a smile and mouthed the words 'I'll see you at dinner' to him. He smiled and waved back before following Kristoff through the door and into the hallway, headed off on a tour of the castle.

I turned to Anna, "Are you ready?"

"Sure am!" She replied cheerfully as she hooked her arm in mine and we casually sauntered through the halls of the castle. Once we reached the grand foyer, Kai was there again and we quickly informed him of our plans. Not long after we were off through the gates and into the streets of Arendelle, where citizens were genuinely surprised to see the royal sisters out and about.

We had felt it was best not to inform the citizens of Anna's disappearance when we first discovered she was missing. That being said, none of them knew of the recently traumatizing experience we had gone through, so none of them asked.

We stopped often to hold short conversations with any of the citizens who acknowledged us, which were almost all of them. Many asked about the status of the preparations for Anna's upcoming wedding, and others were interested in the politics of Arendelle and asked me questions about it.

Anna and I were about to head to a more secluded place to talk, where I was hoping to tell her of her own pregnancy, but we were interrupted by a woman stopping us. She was older, appearing old enough to have grandchildren of her own, with gray hair pulled into a neat bun, and warm hazel eyes. She smiled at us as she spoke,

"Oh, Princess Anna, you must be so excited to be getting married!" She beamed, clasping Anna's hands in hers.

"Yes, I am absolutely thrilled! Of course, the wedding planning is overwhelming at times, what with all the decisions and appointments, but its all worth it!" She gushed to the little old lady, who then turned to look at me and curtseyed.

"Your majesty, how are you on this fine evening?" She asked me politely, as Anna was pulled away by a young woman who started a conversation with her.

"I am well, thank you...Aslaug." I said in response, straining to remember her name. I had taken the time to learn the names of all my citizens here in Arendelle, and considering the kingdom was not terribly large, I was able to remember them all.

She, however, seemed a bit surprised, "How did you know my name?" She asked, sounding both flattered and flabbergasted.

I smiled warmly at her and explained, "Well upon assuming the throne, I took the time to learn the names of the citizens of my kingdom."

"You truly do make a wonderful Queen, I'm certain your parents would be proud." She said with a smile.

"Thank you, Aslaug, that means a lot to me."

And I meant that wholeheartedly, it was both comforting and reassuring to know that the citizens trusted me. Sometimes I would still worry that they resented me for what I put them through last year, but I was reminded they were forgiving people.

"So dear, is Arendelle to expect a King anytime soon?" She asked, raising her eyebrows in a slightly teasing manner.

"I-I beg your pardon?" I stuttered.

She only laughed and leaned closer so she could whisper to me, "Surely with your younger sister being engaged, the idea of love and marriage has crossed your mind."

To a certain extent, she was right, I had thought about love since Anna's engagement, mostly because I was hoping to somehow find it. Of course every young girl always dreams of falling in love and marrying, but I've always been so alone that the idea of love seems foreign to me.

And then there's the aspect of my powers interfering...

"I will admit that I have thought about it, but I just never have time to worry about it much. Arendelle is my first priority, and I feel that I am perfectly capable of ruling alone."

"Oh I've seen exactly how capable you are of ruling dear, that's not the concern, but that has nothing to do with being happy." She said. "Are you happy?"

_Of course I was happy...right...? _

Before I could open my mouth to respond Anna came bounding back to where Aslaug and I stood, having ended her conversation with the other young woman. She came to stand beside me and flashed a huge grin, and seeing Anna happy always made me feel better.

"I assure you all is well." I said to Aslaug with a faint smile, but I knew she could tell I was thinking about her words more deeply than that.

"Of course, your majesty but, should you ever need to, feel free to come talk to me." She replied before bidding both Anna and I farewell, and rushing off into the mass of people hurrying about.

"What was that all about?" Anna asked as I watched Aslaug walk away.

I snapped out of my daze and turned to her, "Oh nothing, just discussing my time as Queen that's all."

I didn't want to tell Anna about what she had said to me, mostly because I wasn't even sure how I felt about it yet. Also due to the fact that I was certain she'd come up with some elaborate plan to bring in more suitors again, and I was still wary of that idea. Up until this point I had convinced myself that I was perfectly fine without anyone by my side, besides my loving sister of course, and that I could easily rule alone. But had things changed? Not knowing the answer to that scared me, but what scared me a bit more was that the first person that came to mind when Aslaug mentioned love, was Jack.

"Oh, okay. Well now that I think of it, I was talking with that younger woman...uh I think her name was Catia...and she reminded me of something I wanted to ask you about!" She beamed.

"Well good, there's something I need to tell you as well." I said while failing to hide the smile that spread across my face as I remembered the news I had to share.

We proceeded our journey down to the docks which were mainly empty, due to the lack of foreign visitors at the moment. We both sat down on the edge of the dock, and Anna took off her shoes and let her legs dangle in the water below. I on the other hand, did not want to accidentally freeze anything, so I stayed away from the water.

"Okay, I'll go first." She said excitedly, before drawing in a deep breath, "I think we should host a large ball here in Arendelle and invite neighboring kingdoms as a sort of 'sorry for possibly scaring you with my eternal winter, I'm really not dangerous,' as well as kingdoms we might not be all too close with in order to form necessary alliances and bonds with other powerful nations." She blurted out the never ending sentence so fast, she had to gasp for air at the end of her rant.

"Wait, wait, you mean like an over glorified dinner party?" I asked, with a bit of sarcasm hidden in my words.

"Well, yeah! Wouldn't that be a good way to break the ice after the whole incident last year?" I giggled at her choice of words, causing her to add, "Oh and no pun intended by the way."

I laughed, "Alright, I guess that's true...but what would we say the ball is for?"

"Hmm, well we could say its like a 'changing of the seasons' celebration?" She laughed at her own suggestion, "No that's a bit odd of a reason, but don't worry I'll figure it out!"

I pursed my lips in thought as I pondered her suggestion. The idea itself wasn't bad, especially being that it would be a smart idea to build trust between our neighboring kingdoms. It was the planning of it all and the reason to be having it in the first place, that seemed to be causing issues.

Anna must have read my mind because she piped up and added, "I would plan the whole thing and I would make it as stress free as possible for you! Please Elsa, this is a good idea and you know it is." She said raising an eyebrow and flashing me a hopeful grin.

"Ohhh okay." I said finally giving in, while Anna held her arms up and excitedly shook them, squealing of happiness.

I chuckled and said, "Alright, but you have to promise you'll take care of this for me Anna."

"Oh, of course! You won't have to worry a bit! Oooh this is so exciting! Now...what was it you wanted to tell me?" She asked, still excited that I approved of her plans.

"Oh, well...I uh..." I cleared my throat awkwardly, not sure of how to word the news to her.

"While you were unconscious, the physician told me some news of your health..."

She nodded, as her expression fell into one of seriousness and slight worry, "Go on."

"Anna..." I felt the smile slowly creeping up onto my lips, "...the physician informed me that you are with child."

I watched her face carefully and watched as she slowly processed the news and let it sink in.

"Wait...you mean...I...I'm going to be a...a mother? A-and I didn't even know?" She stuttered as she brought her hand down to her stomach.

I nodded and almost immediately, a huge smile spread across her face and she hugged me for the third time that day. She pulled away and looked at me, with eyes that were still full of shock and disbelief.

"Oh my...this is incredible! Kristoff and I had talked about starting a family, but I didn't think it would be so soon and...wait...oh god Elsa we aren't even married yet! I mean I'm overjoyed but...what is everyone going to think? And Kristoff...what is Kristoff going to think?" She rambled as her nerves kicked in and her excitement was slowly taken over by worry.

"It is a bit...untraditional, but I'm happy for you Anna, and I'm certain everyone else will be too...especially Kristoff. And besides, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters right?"

She pondered my words for a few moments before responding, "I guess I'm just a bit scared that I'm now responsible for another life, in addition to my own." She said looking down at the dock we were sitting on, and beginning to trace her finger along the wood grain.

I took her hand in mine and gave it a light squeeze, causing her to look up at me, "I know, believe me that's how I felt when I had to assume the throne, but we'll all be here to help you along the way. I know you can do this, Anna, I believe in you."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Elsa. Thank you, for your support and for everything else."

"You're my sister Anna, and I love you. I'd do anything for you." I said back with a warm smile.

"I love you too, Elsa." She paused before saying something else, "So do you think I'll be a good mother?"

"Oh I know you will! You're caring and gentle, and have a huge heart full of love to share. The only thing I'd be worried about is your clumsiness rubbing off on the poor child." I said laughing.

"Hey!" She protested, "I am not that clumsy!"

"Oh Anna, please! I think its safe to say you're a walking disaster waiting to happen!" I teased back, now laughing even harder than I was before.

She playfully slapped my arm and stuck her tongue out at me, before looking down to her stomach and beginning to rub it.

"Listen baby, your Auntie Elsa is being mean to your mommy, tell her to stop!" She said to her stomach, then looked up and winked at me.

All I could do was laugh at my little sister who was already loving this child and giving it her undivided attention. Things were finally starting to fall into place and Anna had finally found her real true love with a happy ending to match.

_Now I just wish I could find mine... _

I looked out over the water of the surrounding fjord and realized the sun was setting on the horizon. Beautiful hues of pinks, purples, and oranges tinted the once blue sky in a spectacular array of streaked patterns. I wished I could stay here and admire the sunset forever, being as things would be busy for me soon after, and I never got to enjoy these small things from being cooped up inside the castle. After spending all that time with Jack I had learned to notice and appreciate the simpler things that I might not have had the change to notice before. He helped me let go and feel free for once, and that was something I loved about him. I also wanted to return to him soon, I'd never admit it out loud, but I always miss him terribly when he's gone. I carefully pushed myself up to my feet and took one last look at the fading sun, before turning to Anna.

"I think we should get back to the castle, its getting dark and we wouldn't want to miss dinner, now would we?"

"Oh, I'm absolutely famished! That rotten Pitch didn't feed me, and I haven't eaten in days!" Anna whined, and I started laughing at the childish pout that was on her face.

"Well come on then!" I said, still laughing.

I extended a hand to her, and helped her up before we linked our arms once more, and began the walk back to the castle. The walk back was considerably quieter, besides the conversation between Anna and I, being as everyone had gone inside for their own dinners. It was a calming sort of quiet that had swept over the town and both Anna and I relished in that on the way home.

Once we had reached the gates, we were greeted by the guards, and continued inside to discover that we had not missed dinner. Instead we were, in fact, early and that gave each of us some time to freshen up a bit, and we each went to our respective rooms.

I walked over to my wardrobe and quickly selected a regal gown from my collection of 'Queenly attire.' I wore a magenta colored dress with silver stitching forming an abstract design resembling Arendelle's crest. It had long sleeves that came down to just below my elbow, and a collar that came all the way up to my neck. I slipped on a pair of silvery flats, repinned my hair into its usually formal bun, and added a quick swipe of purple eye shadow and mascara before leaving. I headed over to Anna's room to see if she had finished getting ready, and knocked on her door.

"Yes?" I heard a muffled voice call out from behind the door.

"Anna its me, Elsa, I was just stopping by to see if you were ready yet or-"

I was cut off by the door being opened and closed, followed by Anna coming to stand by my side. She was wearing a light green dress that flared at her waist, and had dark green floral patterns along the bodice. Half of her hair was pulled back by a black ribbon, matching the one around her waist, and half of it was left down.

"Ready to go!" She replied and tugged on my arm, dragging me down the hall and down the spiral staircase, nearly killing me in the process.

When we reached the dining hall, Gerda greeted us and ushered us into the room by having two other servants open the doors for us. As the two large wooden doors opened I saw both Jack and Kristoff lazily conversing in the center of the room, who both turned to see us. Anna was quickly gone from my side and in Kristoff's arms within seconds, and I casually walked over to Jack.

He had a huge grin plastered on his face as he reached out to hug me, and said in my ear, "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes! I feel like I haven't seen you all day!"

I giggled and pulled back, "I've only been out with Anna for a few hours, you impatient boy!" I teased.

"Well it felt like forever!" He protested with a laugh.

"Don't worry I missed you too, Jack." I whispered, then walked away from him and over to the table, motioning for him to follow. I sat down across from Anna and Kristoff, Jack sat down next to me, and the servants began to bring out food.

The evening was filled with laughter and stories and genuinely good times being spent with one another. It was as if the whole ordeal with Pitch had never even happened in the first place, that we were always just here living happily.

"Wait, so you mean you actually know Santa Claus?" Kristoff asked with a mouthful of carrots, causing Anna to scold him.

"Yeah, although he prefers to be called North." Jack responded nonchalantly.

"And the Tooth Fairy?" Anna asked curiously, being as she used to worship the Tooth Fairy as a child.

"You bet! Tooth's a fun one to be around."

"And the Easter Bunny? Kristoff added, his interest in Jack growing by the second.

Jack groaned, "Unfortunately yes...I do know the Easter Kangaroo." He said rolling his eyes.

I laughed at his playful animosity towards Bunny and added, "Don't forget the Sandman."

Jack nodded, "Ah yes thank you!"

Kristoff looked at us suspiciously, "You know you never did say...how exactly did you two meet?"

Jack looked at me nervously and I just responded for the both of us, "Well truly its kind of a long story..."

I trailed off and Anna picked up that I didn't want to talk about it at the moment, and she came to my rescue,

"Well that's okay, I'm getting pretty tired anyways. Maybe its time for us all to get some sleep, what do you think Kristoff?"

"Sure thing, Anna."

He quickly dropped the subject as he happily attended to Anna, and began to walk her out of the dining room. She turned around and called back to me, "Goodnight, Elsa and Jack!"

"Goodnight." Jack and I both said at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed a bit at our unexpected moment of unison, before standing up to leave the dining room ourselves.

"Your majesty!" We were at the door when I heard a voice call to me from inside the dining room.

I turned around and saw Kai rushing over to us, "Yes, Kai?"

"The...arrangements...you asked me to make for our guest, have been completed. We shall be prepared for his arrival midday tomorrow." He said before turning to leave again.

My eyes went wide as I had completely forgotten about the boy from Noavida coming to stay in Arendelle.

"You have a guest coming tomorrow?" Jack asked.

"Yes, from a far off kingdom that has a boy in need of help for the time being." I explained.

"Oh, well the circumstances don't sound too fortunate."

"No they're not...the poor boy's father was charged with treason and murder and now all hell broke loose in the country, putting him in danger." I said, sadly.

"That's awful...but at least you could help him out, being the generous and caring Queen you are." He said with a smile, showing his perfectly white teeth.

"Thanks Jack, that means a lot to me." I said, stifling a yawn.

"Uh oh...looks like someone's tired. We had better get you to sleep my Queen." He said with a smirk before sweeping me up into his arms again like he had back at the ice palace.

"Jack!" I hissed, "What if someone sees you! I am the Queen, I can't just be carried around my castle in the arms of some handsome young stranger!"

He stopped in his tracks, halfway up the stairs, "Handsome?...Yes. Stranger? Hmmm..."

He pondered that thought for a second before leaning closer to me and whispering, "I hope not."

I giggled and and whispered back, "Try _definitely _not."

He flashed me his signature half smile and continued to walk me to my room, as I just allowed myself to sink into his arms and nuzzle against his chest.

When we finally reached my room, he gently placed me on the ground in front of the door. He wrapped his arms around me once more in a hug, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, allowing myself to give in to him. He kissed the top of my head, leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Goodnight, my Queen."

I looked up to meet his blue gaze and smiled, "Goodnight, my Guardian."

_**A/N: Anna knows! She's so cute and I have a feeling Kristoff's reaction will be adorable as well! :')**_

**_Aaand Elsa is still oblivious and confused at the same time about her feelings towards Jack, but we shall see what happens for these two! _**

**_Plus our prince from Noavida is going to come unto play very soon, so stick around for that one...I can assure you it will be an interesting experience..._**

**_And seriously y'all...not one single review...? I'm still VERY grateful that so many have read this story so far, but I also really appreciate your feedback! _**

**_Read & Review! Comments, concerns, criticism, and overall reactions are welcome! :)_**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter 16: Frozen Hearts**_

_**Anna's POV **_

We walked out the dining room doors, leaving Elsa and Jack alone, and continued on down the long hallway, until we reached my room. I opened the door and quickly grabbed Kristoff's arm, pulling him inside with me, while he gave me a confused look in return.

"Kristoff we need to talk." I said as I walked further into the room. I walled over to the fireplace at the end of the room and sat down on the sofa in front of it. I motioned for Kristoff to follow, and he did with a curious look on his face, adding to the confusion he wore previously.

"Alright, go ahead." He sighed.

I grinned and went over my mental checklist of things to tell him, before rattling them off to him. My hope was that I would be able to nonchalantly slip the news in there, being as he never paid much attention when I started rambling, to see if he would catch on.

"Well of course, you know there are still so many things that we need to address before the wedding, which is slowly creeping closer. We still have to finish planning the decorations for the ceremony, and we must finish the list of guests. Which reminds me...my cousin in Corona had been very adamant about meeting you, and we might as well tell her the good news...so I think we'll invite her and her husband over soon." I rambled, looking to see if he had caught any of that which, unsurprisingly, he hadn't.

"Oh and Kristoff?" I asked ever so sweetly.

He was still in his little daze when he responded, "Hmm?"

"I'm pregnant." I said calmly, with a bit of a smirk planted on my face.

Kristoff nodded as per usual, before he realized what I had actually said, snapping out of his daze.

He spoke up immediately, "HANG ON! WHAT?!"

"Yes dear?" I asked innocently, knowing full well what I was doing and how bad I was messing with him.

"Y-you just said y-you're..." He stuttered, trying to find the words to finish his sentence.

I gladly finished for him, "Pregnant? Yes I know."

His jaw dropped, almost to the floor, and I just laughed as I reached out to put it back in place while stroking his cheek.

"But...but how can that be...i-it was only one t-time..." He rambled on, causing me to blush slightly upon remembering the evening we had spent together.

"Well...that's kind of what happens in accordance to...those kinds of things..." I added awkwardly, this time causing him to blush.

We both looked at the floor, sitting in the now awkward silence that fell between us. Although we had spent that fateful night together, it was safe to say that we were still shy about the encounter, especially Kristoff. Kristoff was naturally a shy person, though, so he was easily embarrassed by a number of things.

"So you mean you...you're actually...pregnant...?" He asked quietly, bringing his head up to look at me. I could see many different emotions running through him in his eyes, but couldn't necessarily identify one at a time. They all seemed to mesh together and form many difffernt combinations of emotions, that I couldn't read.

I returned his gaze, and gave him a small smile as I answered, "Yes, Kristoff, I am."

He sat there for a moment, most likely processing my previous statement, I slowly saw his face start to soften. He smiled widely at me before pulling me into him for a hug, which I very gladly returned. As I melted into his arms, I felt like nothing in the world could ruin this moment, that my life was perfect now. I was marrying my true love and now we were expecting our first child together. I suddenly felt Kristoff tense up and he instantly pulled away from our embrace and looked at me with an uncertain look in his eye.

"Oh god..." He murmured.

He brought his hands up to his hair, as a horrified expression shot across his features. "OH GOD, YOUR SISTER IS GOING TO KILL ME!"

He looked at the ground as his breathing rate began to increase and his grip on his blonde locks tightened, before looking up at me. When his eyes met mine, I saw the look of sheer terror in his eyes and wasn't sure why he was so scared. Was he terrified of Elsa? Or of becoming a father?

I choked back a giggle, and I reached forward to bring each of his hands into mine, prying them out of his hair. I saw him relax slightly as he looked into my eyes, but the same look of fear stayed on his face.

"Kristoff, she's not going to kill you." I said calmly, "In fact, she already knows..."

His facial expression changed once again, this time to confusion, "What? Elsa already knows about this? And before I did?" He asked, sounding slightly hurt.

"Oh please, she knew before I did!" I said, comforting him. After all, I wouldn't want him to think I had told Elsa first before him.

He only gave me an even more confused look, so I sighed and explained, "When I was unconscious after returning, the physician told Elsa that I was, and then she told me this afternoon."

"Oh...I see..." He said quietly, before looking at the floor again. I could tell he was upset about something but I still didn't know what. And now I was beginning to feel a bit more nervous than I had before, due to the fact he was so upset. Was this about the baby? I had told Elsa before that I was scared for his reaction about the baby, and I guess I still am.

I reached out and moved my hand to his shoulder, "Kristoff...are you...alright?"

He thought about my question for a few minutes, which felt like forever, before finally answering me.

"Well no, Anna, I'm not. That sick guy Pitch came and took you and I wasn't even here to protect you. And what's worse, you were pregnant with our child, so two of you were in danger and I was no where to be found." He explained sadly, I could see the pain and anger towards himself in his eyes.

I felt my heart break a little upon hearing his confession of guilt, especially considering none of it was his fault. That's another thing Kristoff tends to do quite often, is take the blame on himself for everything. It was always so noble of him to do, but sometimes he really beat himself up over it.

"Kristoff you had to leave for business, and there was no way any of us could've known Pitch would take me. You can't blame yourself for any of this, its not your fault."

"I know, I just feel like I could've done something. If I were here you wouldn't have ever been taken...I just wish I could've been here." He said sadly.

"Well now I'm here and I'm fine...more than fine actually, I'm carrying a child, our child, Kristoff."I said with a smile.

I didn't want him to feel guilty, I wanted him to be happy that we are having a child now, and our happy ever after is finally coming true. I could tell that Kristoff was thinking about what I said and let my words sink in. I watched as his face slowly began to light up and his expression changed one last time, this time to excitement and happiness.

"I'm going to be father...and you're going to be a mother!" He exclaimed in realization as he threw his arms around me again.

"We're starting a family of our own." I said in the embrace.

"And I couldn't be any happier." He whispered in my ear.

I let myself sink into him and enjoy the warmth that radiated off of his body as I started to drift off to sleep.

What would I ever do without him?

**_Elsa's POV _**

I slowly woke up after hearing a knock on my bedroom door, and peeked an eye open to see the pale blue walls of my still dark bedroom. I tried my best to go back to sleep, closing my eyes again and shifting my position, but another knock came again, this one a bit louder.

I groaned and regrettably dragged my tired body out of my comfortable bed and walked over to the white wooden door. I grabbed the handle, twisted it and yanked it towards me, opening it to reveal a certain smiling white-haired boy.

"Goodmorning, my Queen." He said in his deep voice. Although his voice was naturally deep, he sounded very happy and chipper when he spoke.

I yawned, "Morning? It is not morning, its more like the middle of the night."

He took a quick moment to look me up and down, taking in my just awakened state, and let out a little chuckle. I slowly came to reality as I broke from my sleepy trance and looked down to realize why he was staring at me. I was never necessarily the most attractive person in the morning. I shot him a glare and moved to stand behind the door, peeking my head out, so he wouldn't see my slightly over exposed body. I glanced out to the balcony doors and saw through the windows that the moon was still up and it was still dark outside.

"Is there any reason you're waking me up at this hour?" I asked a bit frustrated that he had done so, and interrupted my sleep.

"Well I thought I'd surprise you." He replied with a smirk, and I felt my heart flutter as he did. There was something about the way he looked at me that never failed to give me slight heart palpitations.

"Oh you surprised me alright, but for what?"

I could only imagine what this mischievous spirit had in mind for me, especially something that caused him to wake me up before the sky was even awake.

"I figured you might want to get out of the castle for a bit before you're bombarded with responsibility again. Y'know have some fun!" He explained, becoming increasingly excited as he spoke of his center.

"I have things to attend to today Jack, I-"

"Ah, don't worry about it! I'll have you back in time for your guest's arrival." He interrupted with a smirk, and swatted his hand as if brushing off my concerns.

I contemplated whether or not I should agree to whatever shenanigans he had in mind. I was more than willing to run off with Jack but of course, being the Queen, I had responsibility. Sometimes I really didn't like being Queen, just for that reason, but I knew I had to be for the people of Arendelle. Truth be told, however, I would do anything and go anywhere with Jack so it wasn't too hard to make the final decision.

"Well I guess it couldn't hurt..." I said slowly.

Jack jumped up and fist pumped the air in celebration of his little victory, as I just stood there laughing at him.

"Shall we get going..." He said, before dropping into an exaggerated bow, causing his hood to fall over his head, "...your majesty?"

I giggled at his display of mock chivalry, as he returned to his normally upright state and he gestured to the hallway, motioning for us to leave. I immediately shot him an incredulous look and scoffed, which caused him to look at me in confusion as I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed.

"Do you honestly think I can go out looking like this?" I teased, pointing to my nightgown which showed a bit too much skin for a Queen to be seen in.

He looked in the direction of my hand and immediately blushed at the sight of me before him. He brought his hand up to the back of his neck and rubbed it anxiously, before he looked up at me again.

"I think you look just fine!" He protested, some of the blush remaining on his cheeks.

"Mhmm, I'm not so sure..." I said as I walked away from the doorway that Jack was standing in.

I moved over to stand in front of the massive wooden wardrobe, grabbing a hold of the two door handles, and yanking them open. My eyes quickly flitted through the selection of appropriate dresses inside, and I was disappointed to find that none of them seemed appealing to wear at the moment. I frowned at the dresses and thought of how uncomfortable they would be, and decided instead to improvise.

Jack noticed my disappointment and spoke up, "What's wrong?"

I sighed, "Oh nothing, I'll just have to make a dress myself that's all."

He took a few steps into the still dark room and walked over to sit on the edge of my bed, all the while staring at me in confusion.

"Wait, what do you mean _make_ a dress? That could take hours!" He whined, resembling that of a small child begging their mother to go play.

I laughed and turned away from him, "No Jack...just watch."

With that, I brought my hand up in an arc across my body and smiled as the light blue fabric materialized around me. It started at my waist and crept its way up to my shoulders, while the rest fell down to the floor in a fitted skirt. The bottom of the skirt was a dark turquoise and as it reached up to my waist the color turned progressively lighter, in an ombre effect. The bodice had a black base that was covered in light blue and turquoise embroidered floral patterns. On my left shoulder, a sleeve extended all the way down to my wrist, while my right arm was left bare in a strapless design. I quickly pulled back portions of my hair, braiding small sections on either side and bringing them to connect in the back. I left my bangs out and half of my hair laying in soft waves down my back.

I turned back around to face Jack whose jaw had dropped so far I thought it would fall off his face. I smiled as I walked past him, lifting up his jaw as I did, and proceeding to walk out the door.

He spun around to follow me, eyes still wide with astonishment, "Wow, Elsa...you look...incredible."

"Thank you, Jack." I said looking down, fighting back a small blush I felt creeping up. Did he really think I looked all that great? Secretly I had tried to make myself appear a bit more presentable for Jack, I didn't really care who else saw me. I looked up from the pattern on the floor to see Jack still staring at me, and I felt my heart rate kick up once more.

_God how often does he do that?! _

I cleared my throat, "Well we should probably get going."

My statement snapped Jack out of his dreamy daze, and back to reality, causing a wide grin to spread across his face.

"Of course!" He said excitedly, before taking me by the hand and pulling me down the hallway.

We walked through the castle exchanging small words of conversation here and there, but stayed quiet for the most part considering everyone was still asleep. We made our way down into the kitchen and through the back doors to the castle that led out into the garden. Beyond the garden was the massive forest that surrounded Arendelle, and we walked into it hand in hand. I took a moment to observe my surroundings a bit and noticed how eerie the woods seemed at such an early hour with such little light. But at the same time it was calming and somewhat relaxing, and the further we went into them, the more I forgot about any of my concerns. There was a part of me, however, that believed it wasn't the scenery that put me at ease, but Jack. Just his presence alone always made me feel better no matter the circumstance, and I appreciated him for that.

We eventually reached a clearing that contained a few logs and stones gathered around an old fire pit. The logs were still arranged in the normal manner for a fire, so I assumed this might've been an abandoned camping spot. Many times the citizens of Arendelle would come out here to spend some time unwinding in nature, something I wish I could do more often. I trailed my hand up the bark of one of the trees that was near me and watched as a thin layer of ice spread across it. Jack heard the familiar crackling of ice and smiled before tapping his staff against the tree next to mine. I observed the intricate detailing in his work, the swirls that twisted and turned in a beautiful display, versus my boring ice.

"Frost is so beautiful, the way it forms patterns that swirl around delicately." I said out loud, somewhat speaking more to myself than anyone else.

"It is a pretty thing, isn't it? I think that's why I like having the powers I do, because I can make things both fun and beautiful." He replied thoughtfully.

I thought about his response and about my own powers, the powers of chaos and destruction. My powers had always been a burden for me to carry all throughout my life, and I could never see anything good in them. And even now, it was hard to see good in them at times.

"Must be nice...all I've ever known is destruction and danger. " I said sadly.

I was surprised by a cold hand on my shoulder, and Jack's sweet voice in my ear, "That's not true, you created that ice palace all by yourself with your powers. That place is magnificent!"

"Yes, but with all the pain and suffering I've caused people with them, it doesn't seem to compare." Immediately thoughts and memories of the incident last year flooded my mind, causing many emotions to fill up inside of me.

"Elsa, that's not true, you are capable of so much more than that and you showed that when you let it all go and built the palace." He said soothingly, stepping closer to me in an attempt to comfort me. In response to which I took a few steps back, I knew what was coming and I didn't want him to be near me for fear that I would hurt him.

I hugged myself and started rubbing my arms, not because I was cold, but because I could feel myself getting upset. Emotions were always my downfall, what triggered my powers, and I didn't want to lose control in front of Jack. Instead I tried pushing away thoughts of the chaos that I brought to everyone, and pictured Anna. Since I had learned to control my powers with love, I would constantly think about Anna and would feel more in control of them instantly. But this time, as I thought of Anna, flashbacks of me striking her as a child and freezing her heart came rushing in and only made matters worse. I felt the pulse of ice through my veins, and desperately racked my brain for things I could do to calm down and forget.

"Elsa, are you okay?" Jack asked in desperation, his voice filled with both concern and fear.

In a last resort attempt, I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of Jack. Images of his face pulled into his mischievous half smirk, with those snow white teeth and blues eyes sparkling, all flashed in my mind. Strangely enough, however, I still felt that familiar pull in my fingertips of ice begging to be expelled. I let out a small cry as I gave in and squeezed my eyes shut even tighter, and let out a stream of my icy magic.

I heard Jack let out a small gasp, which forced me to open my eyes to see what I had done. What I saw was a large sculpture of ice formed in the old fire pit, that extended numerous feet in the air. It was a heart that had swirling waves of ice protruding from the sides and down from the point, connecting to the fire pit. The heart itself was covered in a frost like intricate pattern that seemed to be engraved into the ice. But what confused me the most, was the snowflake that was embedded in the center of the heart. I didn't recognize it, meaning that it wasn't my signature snowflake that always appeared when I made things of ice.

"Is...is that _my_ snowflake?" Jack spoke up, in a voice that seemed to be in shock at what had just happened. How turned to me with eyes full of confusion, "Elsa, what's going on?"

I was in a total state of shock and didn't know what to say or do at the moment. I looked down at my now trembling hands and then back up to Jack, "I...I don't know."

"I don't understand...what set you off?" He asked, trying to piece together what happened as well.

I knew that it was the memories of the incident, and flashbacks of Anna that had made me so upset. But when I thought about Jack its like I suddenly lost control, and then forgot all about the incident. Why did Jack have such a strong effect on me? Its like as soon as he came to mind my suffering was over with in one final blast...but why? None of this made any sense and I was starting to get a headache from it all. Not to mention I still hadn't figured out why I made what I made. I had subconsciously made Jack's snowflake inside of a heart, and wasn't sure what to make of that. What does that even mean?

"I...I was...it was last year's...incident..." I stuttered breathlessly, failing to find the right words to attempt describing how I felt.

I took a deep breath and summoned all the concentration I had, "My powers are run off emotion, and we were talking about our powers and I thought about all the horrible things I did with mine and...and..." I trailed off again, this time sinking to my knees in defeat. I was once again letting my emotions get the best of me, instead of just concealing it.

_Conceal. Don't feel. _

Jack rushed over to my side, concerned not only for my mental state, but for my health as well now. He fell to his knees in front of me and reached out, cupping my face in his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye. When I looked at him I saw fear in his eyes, not fear of me, but fear for me.

I closed my eyes and took another deep breath, allowing my shoulders to drop, "I haven't lost control since then." I said solemnly.

He gently stroked my cheek with his thumb as he spoke, "Elsa, that's all in the past now, you don't have to be so afraid of your powers."

I opened my eyes to see his big blue ones staring back at me in a sincerely caring way, with a hint of sympathy hidden behind them. He removed one hand from my face, and down to grab my hands, "You just proved once more that you're capable of so much more than destruction, that you too can create beauty, and that you can control it. No one got hurt here, Elsa, remember that, and all you really did was just create another work of art with ice."

Jack always knew what to say to make things better, and to a certain extent he did make me feel a lot better about it. But I still wondered exactly what the snowflake inside the heart was supposed to mean.

"I just don't know how I did it. All I did was close my eyes and...let it go." I said, smiling mentally at remembering the moment I had done just that last year.

Jack let out a soft chuckle, "Well I'll admit I'm impressed you could do that with your eyes literally closed. But how did you know how to make my snowflake?"

"I didn't even know it was yours...when I opened my eyes I didn't recognize it. I guess I did it subconsciously." I concluded.

His face twisted in thought and concentration, but he didn't say anything else in response to it. He looked at the sky and saw the rising sun, realizing it was a good time to leave now.

"C'mon let's just get you back to the castle." He said as he stood up, extending a hand to me to help me up.

I nodded in response, and followed him back to the castle, leaning heavily on his arm. I was already tired from this whole ordeal, and I had important matters to attend to today. As we made our way back, he was silent and seemed a bit distracted, traits that were very unusual for him. I was pretty certain I knew what he was thinking about, mostly because that's exactly what I was thinking about as well.

Once we had reached the back doors to the castle, I stopped and turned to Jack before speaking up.

"Jack, I'm sorry I ruined our time together, I know you wanted to have fun and I know that was no f-"

I was cut off by him rapidly pulling me into a tight hug, his arms wrapping around me as if he never wanted to let go. I was surprised at first, but quickly recovered and hugged him back, with a matching furiosity that he had to me.

"Don't be sorry, Elsa, any time I get with you is perfect."

I could have sworn I heard him barely whisper something in my ear that sounded like,

"_You're_ perfect."

_**A/N: Oh my gosh guys its been a week...I'm a terrible author, in fact, I'm a terrible person! So so so sorry out that!**_

_**But anyways, on with the story! There are a few of you who are excited about the arrival of this mystery boy from the mysterious land of Noavida, so I'm pleased to inform you that he will be here in the next chapter! :) **_

_**And it seems that Elsa is STILL clueless in her feelings *sigh* hopefully she will have an epiphany soon! But I'm pretty sure Jack has quite a lot on his mind...hmm...**_

_**Kristoff knows he's going to be a daddy now, so I think a visit to the trolls to tell them the need would probably be a good idea!**_

_**A special thanks: Silverstream91, SMr. Freeze, Shimmer Shine, ideceive908, skyhopper, Roxas5717, JackxElsafulltimefan15, and Shadowhunter4601 for reviewing! Love y'all!**_

_**JackxElsafulltimefan15: PM me if you're still interested! :)**_

_**Read & Review! Comments, concerns, criticism, and overall reactions are welcome! :)**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter 17: The Arrival**_

I wasn't exactly sure what I had heard or if I heard him right, but that's what it sounded like he whispered. I'm fairly certain, however, that if that is what he said, I wasn't supposed to have heard it.

_"**You're** perfect." _

His words were echoing through my mind as I strolled through the halls back to my study. As I walked, I ran my finger along the wooden chair rail on the wall, leaving behind a trail of ice as I went. I had no idea where Jack had run off to, he just took off to the skies. Part of me was worried that he was thinking of my outburst back in the woods, and that I'd upset him. I was still racking my brain for an explanation as to why I reacted the way I had when Jack came to mind, and more specifically why I had made what I did.

I reached the door to my study, opening it and entering with a loud sigh. Today was the arrival of the boy from Noavida and I wanted to try to accomplish as much as possible prior to that. I walked over to my large white desk that was still cluttered with documents and such from my absence. Anna had done a great job covering as much for me as possible, while she was here, that is. Then of course the whole incident with Pitch happened and things started to pile up.

I plopped down in my chair and scanned over everything on my desk, deciding where to start. The same mysterious letter from yesterday caught my eye immediately and I swiftly reached over and picked it up. The seal on the front was a bit odd, for it consisted of a family seal that seemed focused around fire. Curiosity pulling at me, I opened the letter and began to read it, only to be somewhat confused. It was from Noavida, detailing the circumstances of their dilemma and seeking Arendelle's help.

At this point, I already knew all about the boy and the accusations of murder against his father. But what intrigued me was the seal I had stared at earlier, for reasons I couldn't quite understand. There was an underlying familiarity that I couldn't identify and it made me anxious to make the connection. I continued to stare at it, observing the detailed curves of flames surrounding the outline of a kingdom, when I heard a knock and the door click open.

Anna pushed against the door with her back, carrying in a tray that contained a few cups and a kettle.

"I brought you some tea! I know how it always calms you down and I figured that today might be a bit stressful, what with the arrival of that boy and all, so...here!" She babbled as she approached the front of my desk, setting the tray down gently. She picked up the kettle and carefully poured a cup of tea for me, as well as one for herself. She held out the cup for me to take, and I did so, noting how poised and graceful she was being. She then picked up a small wedge of lemon and squeezed it in her tea, causing it to squirt into her left eye.

"Ah! Oh it stings! Oh, god, ow!" She was bouncing up and down like a small child, holding onto her eye, "Ow, ow, OW!" She ran through the doors that lead into the bathroom, and rushed to the sink, washing out her eye.

_And there goes the graceful Anna... _

As she returned back to the room where I was, I just giggled, "You okay?"

She laughed, "Uh, yeah...but I think I just remembered why I don't like lemon in my tea!"

We both laughed and enjoyed our tea while chatting casually about this and that, forgetting all about the work I came here to do.

"So have you thought any more about that dinner party you were planning?" I asked.

"Well...I've actually been kind of preoccupied lately, and haven't necessarily gotten around to it." She said a bit sheepishly.

I gave her a confused look, "What do mean by 'preoccupied'?"

"Since I told Kristoff about the baby, all he wants to do is spend every waking moment with me to ensure I'm safe and that the baby's fine. I mean its sweet, but he's practically killing me with his kindness!"

I chuckled, "Oh Anna, doesn't he always?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right! He's just a big sweetheart, that all." She said with a giggle. I watched as her expression slowly changed, and a devilish grin swept across her face.

Upon seeing this I responded innocently, "What?"

She looked at the ground before whipping her head up to look at me again, "So tell me about Jack!"

My eyes grew wide in surprise at the spontaneity of her sudden question, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Jack Frost! Tell me all about him! Like how you guys met and what he's like...and how you two are in love..." She murmured that last part quietly, in hopes that I wouldn't hear it, but I did. I was going to pretend I didn't hear that part though. I knew if I brought it up she'd crucify me for details regarding a relationship that didn't exist.

Although I wish it did...

"Uh...well...we met up at my ice palace." I started awkwardly.

She raised her eyebrows, leaned forward and waved her hand, begging me to continue.

"Right...okay...we actually met here. He found me in my bedroom before I was about to leave for the ice palace, then when I actually arrived, he was already there hiding in the chandelier." I said with a soft smile, remembering the way he was perched up there behind the frozen fractals.

I breathed in and continued once more, "He stayed there with me for the few days I was gone, until Pitch came to us and threatened you, and we left to rescue you."

I looked over at her to make sure she wasn't fazed by the mention of her kidnapping again, being as I knew it upset her to talk about it. But she was still more excited to hear all about Jack, and I continued.

"And now he's here with us, staying for a while in the castle, as you must have noticed."

"Well obviously! What's he like? I only met him briefly...tell me more!" She rambled excitedly.

I sighed and continued my description of Jack, "Well you've seen him...so you know he's pretty attractive...but besides that he's sweet and caring, and he's incredibly supportive and understanding. He's the best friend I've ever had, and I'm not sure what I'd do without him." I said staring at the pattern of the carpet and smiling to myself.

"Oh he sounds perfect! And you two are so cute together, I just know everything will work out!" She squealed.

I snapped my head up to make eye contact with her, "What are you talking about?"

She laughed, "Oh Elsa, you can't be serious?"

But upon seeing my still confused face, she continued in shock, "Oh my god, you are serious..."

"I'm sorry, I'm confused...what exactly are you asking?"

"Elsa, you and Jack obviously feel for each other, am I right?" She asked in a serious tone.

I thought about her words for a moment, pondering exactly how I did feel about him and found that I wasn't sure. I knew he was my best friend, but Anna was asking me if I felt more for him than just a friendly attraction. And that's the question I didn't know the answer to.

"I...he's my best friend Anna, save for you of course, but...I...I don't know if thats all he is to me." I said, my voice grower quieter with each word until my last phrase was nearly a whisper.

"Hmm, I see." She said nodding her head in understanding, "How do you feel around him?"

This mornings incident came flooding back to me, with my strong outburst at the mere thought of him, causing the construction of the heart.

_The heart with his snowflake in it... _

My eyes widened in realization as I remembered that detail, "This morning we went out to the forest, in a small clearing, just talking and having fun. And we were talking about our powers, which is when I felt my powers stirring inside of me."

"Okay...go on..." She said waving her hand, slightly unsure of where I was going with this.

"I normally just think of you, being as love thaws and helps me control them, but this time it didn't work. I thought of Jack and...and that's when I lost control and I created...a heart."

"A heart?" She asked confusedly.

"A heart with his signature snowflake inside of it." I clarified.

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and she pressed on. "Are you serious? Elsa do you know what this means?"

"That I can't control myself around him, and I'm a danger to his safety?" I asked nervously, secretly hoping that it wasn't true. The last thing I wanted was to have to shut Jack out just like I had all those years to Anna.

She rolled her eyes at me while a huge grin crept up across her face, "No silly! Your subconscious is clearly trying to tell you something!"

"My...my what?"

"Oh god Elsa, you truly are clueless! You obviously feel strongly about Jack, and in a way that's more than just friendly." She said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I stayed silent, frozen in shock, unable to form a sentence in response to her theory. Did I feel that way about Jack? Maybe that was why I couldn't control myself around him, and maybe that's why his snowflake was in my heart.

"What you made basically shows that he has a special place in your heart, that you care deeply about him." She further explained.

"But Anna I _just_ met him. I can't possibly feel that strong about someone I just met...can I?" I wondered aloud.

"Look I know you might be wary of it because of what happened between Hans and I, but believe me when I say true love is out there. And you'll know it when you find it, Elsa. Have you ever felt anything like that before?"

I thought back to all the times I had lost control of my powers, but never once had it been to that extent. It was like as soon as he popped into my mind, all things seemed to go blank and I was set free from my torturing thoughts.

"No I can't say I have, but this...this is not...I don't...I'm just so confused about all of this. I don't even know what love is, how am I supposed to know what it feels like?" I responded quietly after a while of thinking.

She just nodded understandingly and reached out to place her hand on mine, "No one else can tell you how you feel, so you'll just have to think about it. But if you need anything I'll be here for you Elsa."

I smiled up at her, "Thank you Anna, that means the world to me."

I meant that entirely as well, as I had spent all those years shutting her out, when all she wanted to do was be there for me. She smiled back at me, and squeezed my hand, before proceeding to walk out of my study, closing the door behind her.

I sat there for a while longer thinking about everything Anna and I had talked about regarding Jack. I couldn't possibly love him, could I? Anna was right about me being thoroughly concerned at that, remembering her encounter with Hans and his falsely charming ways. But Jack was nothing like Hans, he was sweet and sincere, and I knew he'd always be there to protect me. He was my guardian.

I sighed aloud and decided it would be best to stop thinking so much about the subject, and returned to the papers in front of me. I had received yet another letter from the Southern Isles.

_Speak of the devil... _

King Florian was once again begging for me to accept his gifts in apology, and consider moving forward in a trade agreement. As I read the letter I rolled my eyes at his poor choice of persuasive words, and the desperation that was literally dripping from it. This man did not know how to take no for an answer, and it was getting quite frustrating. I would most likely have to address the situation to him in person in order to portray my level of irritation with his constant groveling.

There was a knock on the door, and a loud voice on the other side spoke, "Queen Elsa, it is time to prepare for our guest."

My eyes widened at Kai's words as I remembered what today entailed, and quickly stood up and gathered the rest of the papers. I rushed out the door and was greeted by Kai who was still standing outside the room.

"Your majesty," he quickly dipped into a bow before continuing, "we have spotted the travelers just outside Arendelle, and have predicted they should be here soon."

I glanced out the window and saw that the sun was slowly starting to set, meaning that the travelers were a bit late. I nodded, "Yes, thank you for informing me. Truth be told I would have forgotten if not for you." I admitted with a small smile.

Kai had always been a sort of second father since our parents died, both to Anna and I. He never feared me and doubted me like everyone else had upon the first discovery of my powers, and for that I was extremely grateful. Anna told me how he would always play with her and try to keep her busy when she was bored while I was shut out in my room. Knowing that Anna had at least someone to socialize with while I was miserable, relieved a lot of the guilt I felt about it.

"Of course, my Queen, anything for you." He smiled back, extending an arm to me, offering to be my escort to the front gates.

As we walked down the hall to the spiral staircase, I mentally prepared myself for this boy's arrival. It wasn't that overwhelming in itself, but there were many doubts that crept into my mind the more I thought about it. What if this prince enraged those who were fighting already in Noavida, making Arendelle a target. I naturally was worried about my kingdom, and I also worried what their reaction to him might be.

Once we had reached the gates, I let go of Kai's arm and gathered myself before he took hold of the door handles and opened them for me. I walked into the courtyard and waited for an announcement from the guards that he had arrived, along with Stenson.

Soon enough, after a short while, the heavy wooden gates were pulled open to reveal Stenson getting off of his horse. I looked around him to get a better look at the other person getting off their own horse, but couldn't without craning my neck uncomfortably.

I waited for him to approach us, and as he did he spoke, "Queen Elsa, I apologize for being late, but I am pleased to present to you Prince Ignasi of Noavida."

He stepped to the side to reveal something, or rather someone, I wasn't expecting to see. This prince was definitely no boy, but indeed a handsome young man with dark brown curly hair and piercing eyes of amber. He had a strong jaw and chiseled features, as well as a tall and muscular build to him. He made eye contact with me and immediately bowed out of respect for my title, before returning to look back up and smile shyly at me.

I finally found my voice and spoke up, "Welcome Prince Ignasi, I'm sure you will find Arendelle a lovely temporary home for the time being."

He simply nodded and responded, "I want to thank you in advance for your generosity and hospitality, Queen Elsa." His voice was deep and had a slight hint of an accent to it, that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I nodded in acknowledgement before turning to Stenson, "We will take good care of him here, and I ensure his safety to you and to the kingdom of Noavida."

"Thank you, your majesty." He said to me, then turning to Ignasi, "I shall come back to inform you of the state of the kingdom, as well as when it will be safe for you to return."

"Thank you Stenson, and please if you see my father again...tell him I am safe and that I am not angry with him." Ignasi said sadly. Stenson nodded and was soon back on his horse and speeding off into the distance once more, headed towards Noavida.

I was becoming increasingly curious about this man's life and the circumstances that had been described to me. I had an understanding that his father was being accused of treason and murder, but what had he done that would have caused all of this. I wanted to know more about Ignasi, but I felt it would be rather intruding of me to ask, for now.

"Well if that is all, I believe we shall proceed to introduce you to the rest of the castle's inhabitants, so as you will not remain a stranger." I said smiling softly in Ignasi's direction.

"Yes, I believe that would be a good thing to do." He smiled back as he replied to me.

I walked back through the courtyard and was met by Kai at the same door he had left me at earlier.

"Kai this is Prince Ignasi of Noavida, the young man who will be staying with us for a while." I said.

He bowed quickly, "Very nice to meet you Prince Ignasi, and I hope your stay here is to your satisfaction."

"As do I, although I've already seen how hospitable you are here in Arendelle, something not very apparent in my kingdom." He joked solemnly.

I gave a short laugh in response to his retort, as did he. Now my curiosity to know more about him was burning a whole inside of me, begging to be extinguished.

"Dinner will be served shortly, if you like I can escort you to your room to allow you to freshen up from your travels." Kai offered.

"That sounds like a great idea, thank you...uh...your name sir?" Ignasi asked politely.

"Kai, your majesty." He replied.

"Very well then, thank you Kai." Then Ignasi turned to me and bowed once more, "I shall see you again shortly, my Queen."

"Very well then, we will introduce you to everyone at dinner then." I said dismissing the two of them.

I watched as Kai led him through the main corridor and down the hallway containing the guest bedrooms. Once they were out of my sight, I turned and went back to my own room to prepare for dinner as well. I wandered down the hall and eventually made it to my door, but a thought occurred to me as I stood in front of it. I turned around and knocked on the door that was directly across the hall from mine; Jack's room.

I didn't get an immediate response, so I took the liberty of opening it slightly, peeking my head in. I didn't see anyone in the room, that is, until I looked out to the balcony where I saw his lean figure perched on the railing.

I stepped out from behind the door, his back turnedto me, and silently walked across the room and out onto the balcony. I came up behind him and gently put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise. He whirled around defensively and immediately relaxed when he saw me standing there, smiling at him.

"Oh god Elsa, you scared me!" He smiled back.

"Well I didn't mean to do that, I just came to check up on you. After this morning you kind of just took off and..." I looked up at him, making direct eye contact, "...I was worried about you."

His eyes softened and filled with an emotion I couldn't read, as he took my hand in his, "Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Just the whole incident this morning, I guess...it was pretty bizarre and I was worried I had upset you or something." I said nervously. For some reason whenever I was around Jack I felt my heart flutter, especially at his touch.

He pulled me over to sit with him on the balcony railing, still keeping my hand in his, "No you didn't upset me, I was just thinking about a lot of things that's all."

I nodded in understanding, but I was still curious to know what he was thinking about. I figured it probably wasn't the best idea to ask him about it, so I decided not to, despite my increasing urge to know.

"And believe me, I'm amazed by what you did today in the woods. In fact, I better be careful, you might go and steal my signature snowflake." He added with a wink and his usual devious smirk.

I couldn't help but laugh at his statement, before thinking back to what Anna said earlier; that my subconscious was telling me how deeply I cared about Jack. Sitting here with him, holding his hand and just seeing his mischievous charm, made me remember just how incredible he is.

_It would be hard **not** to love him..._

**_A/N: Oh my gosh guys, a million apologies right now for it being so long since I updated last! But as a few of you know, I was in Disney all last week and now I'm so behind on school work from being gone for so long, its overwhelming! _**

**_But anyways despite my pathetic whining...here ya have it! We have now met the boy, or very handsome young man, from Noavida, and Anna is trying desperately to help Elsa see the might with Jack!_**

**_Thank you to: Shimmer Shine, The Arendelle Sisters, Guest, Roxas5717, xXQueenElsaofArendelleXx, and Shadowhunter4601 for reviewing! Seriously I love y'all!_**

**_Read & Review! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome! :)_**


	18. Chapter 18

_**Chapter 18: Company at Dinner**_

After a few more moments of gentle conversation between the two of us, we decided to head down to dinner together. I had suggested he change into something a bit more formal, to which he at first scoffed at, but eventually obliged. Once he had changed and was ready to leave, we left his room and strolled down the hallway. He offered his arm to me, and I happily accepted, hooking my arm in his and continuing our journey to the dining room.

"So did that Prince show up?" He asked casually as we made our way to the staircase.

"Yes, and he's actually going to be at dinner tonight, as a sort of introduction to everyone in the castle." I replied.

"Oh that makes sense, to make things easier for him, considering why he's here in the first place. What was he like around you? Like did you get to talk to him at all about it?" He said somberly, casting his gaze to the ground in front of him, before looking up at me when asking his questions.

"Yeah, he's definitely not what I expected, although I'm not really sure what I could have expected from his circumstances. And I decided it might not have been the best idea to ask about his life, as of yet, that is. " I answered.

His walking pace slowed a bit as we started descending the stairs, and I held onto the railing with my free arm.

"Well what do you mean?" He inquired.

I thought of how exactly to word my response before speaking up again, "There is definitely something off about the kingdom of Noavida, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. I figured if I could ask him about his family, his past, his kingdom, maybe I would know why, but I'm not so sure its a great idea to ask right now."

He nodded his head in thought as he, presumably, mulled over my words and tried processing what I'd said. We traveled in silence for a few more seconds before Kai came around the corner and greeted each of us.

"Your majesty, I have lead Prince Ignasi to his room earlier to prepare for dinner as promised. Do you think you could escort him to the dining room, being as he might not know his way around the castle yet?" He asked politely.

"Of course I will." I said in response to Kai's question before turning to Jack, my arm unhooking from his and resting on his forearm.

"I'll meet you in the dining room in a few minutes, okay?"

He smiled down at me and pulled his arm back to hold mine and give it a gentle squeeze.

"I'll see you in a few, then." He said quietly.

"He should still be in the guest room in the east wing, your majesty." Kai said awkwardly, slightly caught off guard by the friendly affection Jack and I had exchanged. He wasn't necessarily used to the idea of me being a very sociable person, considering the fact I had isolated myself for years on end.

Jack gave me one final smile before walking off in the direction of the main hallway, that lead to the dining room. I, on the other hand, turned down the east wing and into the hallway containing Ignasi's room. Once I had reached the room Kai had instructed me to go to, I lifted my hand up to knock on the door, but hesitated and my hand lingered.

Just as I was about to bring my fist back down into the smooth wood of the door, it opened and I let out a small gasp in surprise. Ignasi stepped forward, only to be met by my small frame blocking his way in the doorway, causing him to become very close to me. He seemed very confused at first, as was I until I looked up to see his face, and he realized what had happened.

He immediately jumped back and blushed at the encounter, "Queen Elsa, I...I'm so sorry I didn't...I um..."

I regained my composure and straightened my dress out, before returned to my usually regal posture and looking up at him. He was considerably taller than I was, not an uncommon occurrence for me, so I really had to look up at him. He was dressed rather formally, not too much of a difference from how he had arrived this morning.

"No its fine, I was just about to come and show you the way to the dining room. I figured you might not know your way around the castle yet, and we wouldn't want you getting lost." I giggled slightly.

He laughed nervously and fidgeted with his hands a bit, "Uh, thank you...I'm sure I would've gotten lost if not for your help." He joked in return, and gave me a small smile.

I stepped aside and motioned down the hallway in front of me, "Well, shall we?"

He moved forward and next to my side, agreeing with my statement, "We shall."

We walked to the dining room in silence for most of the time, and it was an awkward silence. With Jack, at least, the silence between us was filled with understanding and it was comfortable. But with Ignasi, it was a bit uncomfortable just walking side by side without any conversation. Although I figured it was probably best we didn't conversate, being as I was filled with curiosity about his family and Noavida, and I knew I'd end up questioning him about it.

His deep voice broke me from my thoughts and startled me a bit, "So how long have you been Queen?"

"Hmm? Oh just over a year now." I replied simply, my eyes fixed on the passing floor.

"Only that short amount of time?" He asked incredulously, "You seem far too experienced as a ruler to have only ruled for a year."

I was generally impressed and flattered by his comment, being as it was always a sort of rough subject for me to think about. I was always worried that the citizens of my kingdom resented me, except now I knew that wasn't the case, and Ignasi was complimenting me on it.

"Why thank you, Prince Ignasi, that means a lot to me." I said sincerely, as a smile crept onto my lips.

"Oh please, your majesty, do feel free to just call me Ignasi." He offered.

I nodded in acknowledgement, and replied with a smile, "Then in that case, feel free to just call me Elsa."

He smiled back at me, revealing perfectly straight and brilliantly white teeth that stood out against his tan complexion. I turned my attention from him to observe that we had arrived at our destination.

"Well, here we are." I said, "The dining room, where all meals will be served during your stay here."

"Well thank you for being my escort." He said sweetly, bending down to reach for my hand and bring it up to his lips.

And of course, it was right at that moment that Gerda signalled the guards to open the two huge double doors, revealing both Ignasi and I to everyone in the room. I immediately blushed and looked away from the many pairs of eyes that were boring holes into the two of us, especially Jack's. I'm not sure why, considering Jack and I were only friends, but it felt weird to be caught in that moment with Ignasi in front of him.

Ignasi was just as shocked as I was and swiftly returned himself to an upright position and attempting regaining his composure. He, however, was having the same issue I was in recovering, and failed to hide the blush that swept across his cheeks as well.

I cleared my throat and forced myself to look straight ahead, making uncomfortable eye contact with the other three at the table.

"Everyone this is Prince Ignasi of Noavida, and he is the guest who will be staying with us for a while." I announced.

I stepped further into the room, and Ignasi followed me over to where the others were standing. As the others approached us I began introducing each of them to Ignasi.

"Ignasi this is Jack, my uh...friend." I said awkwardly, allowing a pause for them to shake hands and greet each other, before continuing, "This is my sister Anna, and her fiancé, Kristoff."

"Elsa! You didn't even introduce Dominik!" She whined, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

I was extremely confused, as was Ignasi, and I looked to Kristoff for an answer to which he only offered an apologetic look.

"Who's Dominik?" I asked slowly with much uncertainty.

She rolled her eyes and giggled, pointing to her stomach, "The baby, silly!"

My face contorted into confusion once again, "Anna...you're only a week or two pregnant, you can't possibly know the gender of the child...or what you're going to name it...?"

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Kristoff stepped in and tried helping explain the situation a bit more.

"She's been giving the baby a different name everyday...sometimes you just gotta go with it." He shrugged helplessly.

I laughed inwardly at my sisters enthusiasm and her little quirk, but kept a straight face, "O-okay...well now that that's all cleared up..." I motioned to the table, "...shall we?"

Everyone agreed and moved on to find their seats at the table, but as I was about to walk to my spot, someone stopped me. Jack had my forearm in his hand, and quickly wrapped me in a hug, whispering in my ear, "Yeah he's definitely not what I expected either." His voice sounded a bit bitter and made me wonder...

I pulled away and looked at him with a slightly amused look on my face. Was Jack Frost...jealous? If he was jealous, then that had to mean he felt something for me, right? If that was the case, then I would definitely have to dig deeper into that later on tonight.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Oh, nothing!" I said waving my hand dismissively, while turning to head to my seat at the table once more.

The look of confusion remained on his face, but he shrugged anyways and made his way back to the table with me. I sat at the end of the table while Anna and Kristoff sat to my left, and Jack and Ignasi at my right. Jack was sitting at my immediate right and kept glancing in my direction, attempting to give me facial expressions I couldn't understand.

We commenced the rest of the dinner and light conversation was made between the five of us. Currently Kristoff was talking about his ice business and attempting to recruit Jack's help, mumbling on about how he didn't trust the guys who were running it now.

"I mean its a business of ice, and that's what you do, you know? It would be like the perfect job for you!" Kristoff beamed, his horrible persuasive skills shining through.

"Well I kind of already have a job...if you know what I'm getting at." Jack replied cautiously, while simultaneously glancing over at me nervously.

I knew he didn't want anything to do with Kristoff's ice business, but was afraid to sound rude. I also knew he was trying to subtly remind Kristoff that his other 'job' was being a guardian and bringing the season of winter around the world. Ignasi didn't know that the man sitting next to him was really the living, breathing spirit of Jack Frost, and I assumed he wanted to keep it that way.

Anna, however, also saw Jack's hesitation to his offer, and was becoming slightly irritated at her fiancé's constant advances.

"Oh Kristoff please, enough talk about work at the dinner table!" She said exasperatedly, before turning to look across the table.

"So tell us about Noavida, Ignasi." She said politely.

Secretly I was glad she had asked that question, since I wanted to know myself, and considering how naïve she was, it came across as acceptable.

He pondered her words for a moment, most likely figuring out how to respond, "Well its not too far from here, but its still isolated all the same. Its tucked behind a heavily forested area, surrounding a now dormant volcano which has great historical importance to our kingdom."

Anna gasped, causing us all to look her way in surprise, "A volcano?! Don't you worry that your people are in danger of it erupting and destroying everything in its path?!" She asked dramatically, earning a playful eye roll from Kristoff and a chuckle from Jack and I.

"Well no, you see, its been dormant for hundreds of years so we don't really worry about it awakening again." He explained.

"Oh, I see...well by all means continue! Why is it so important to your kingdom anyways?" She urged.

"Our historical connection with the volcano is that folktales tell of a ruler who once had special capabilities and nearly destroyed his entire kingdom. He later found love and discovered that it was the key to controlling himself, and since then had been the best ruler Noavida had ever known. That is why we hold the volcano so close in sentiment."

I immediately tensed at at the mention of this folktale. He had essentially described the incident of last year with myself and Arendelle, which was still a sore subject for me. There was another reason, however, that I was unsettled by his story. It sounded very familiar, almost too familiar, to the tale I had been reading a few days earlier when Pitch had attacked me. The Fire King.

Jack had noticed how I tensed up and took hold of my hand underneath the table, giving it a gentle squeeze in reassurance. I smiled up at him, and took a moment to appreciate how supportive and understanding he was.

Ignasi's face changed into an expression displaying somber and mournful emotions as he began again, "Noavida is not how it used to be, I'm afraid, and now our country is constantly plagued with violent wars and outbreaks of hopeful revolutionaries wanting to overthrow the king, my father. And that is why I'm here, in Arendelle, to escape the raging war back home in order to assume the throne safely once it all dies down." He concluded with a forced smile, that I could easily see past.

I was never very good at reading emotions, but the one he was displaying I knew all too well. He was displaying many different forms of hurt; anger, sadness, regret.

"Well disregarding the circumstances under which you're here, we welcome you anyways with open arms." I spoke up comfortingly.

He looked up from the table, his glowing amber eyes meeting my ice blue ones, a sort of gratitude being displayed in them as a small smile crept onto his face.

"Yes thank you, your majesty." He said to me, nodding his head slightly before turning to ackownledge the others, "And everyone else here as well, thank you for your generosity."

"Oh you poor thing, of course we'd want to help you out!" Anna cried out, her words drenched in her naturally sincere sympathy.

As each of us finished up our dinner, I decided that tonight I would actually try to get a good nights sleep. The past few nights, I had been so absorbed in my thoughts about everything, mostly Jack, that I would be up half the night.

I rose from my chair and covered my mouth with my hand as I stifled a yawn, "Well this has been fun, but I think I am going to retire for the night."

I began to slowly walk towards the dining room doors, when Jack suddenly sprung out of his seat like a cat and was quickly at my side. I looked at him with a look on my face containing both confusion and amusement.

"In a rush to get somewhere?" I asked, playfully nudging his shoulder.

He shrugged, "No not necessarily, but I wouldn't want you to walk to your room all alone. I promised you I wouldn't let you be alone again."

I was touched by his response, and found that wherever I went I always felt safer when I was with him. Granted I wasn't too worried about walking around my own castle, but it was still nice to know he cared.

As we continued our journey to my room, I decided to change things into a bit more of a playful atmosphere, as well as to question Jack about Ignasi.

"So what exactly did you mean by what you said earlier at dinner?" I asked.

He looked at me in confusion, "About what?"

"Ignasi." I said with a slight smirk.

He made a face and continued on bitterly, "He's just not what I thought he'd be, you know, I was expecting a kid or something."

"He's a nice guy Jack, you should get to know him." I offered.

I continued on when he didn't say anything in response, "And Jack, he _is_ our guest and I don't want you scaring him off...can I trust you to behave?" I teased, as I walked ahead to open the door of my room, leaving him trailing behind me.

He scoffed and mumbled under his breath, "As long as he keeps his hands off you..."

"What was that?" I asked innocently from inside my room, not entirely hearing what he had said due to the distance between us.

When he had caught up with me he came into my room and replied louder so I could actually hear him, "Nothing...I'll be fine don't worry."

I looked up at him with a skeptic look on my face, and pushed him further on the matter, "Why exactly are you being so protective of me with Ignasi?"

"I'm just trying to look out for you, after all..." He looked down at me and smiled, "...I am your guardian."

I laughed at his remark and replied while walking over to the balcony, "Are you sure you aren't a _jealous_ guardian?"

The look on his face was priceless, as a heated blush began to spread across his cheeks, "What? N-no...why would I..." He stopped his mindless ranting when he looked back at me and saw my eyebrow raised to him in a doubtful manner.

He sighed and started walking towards me out on the balcony, looking at the ground the entire time, "Alright...fine...maybe I didn't like the way that guy was looking at you."

I stopped and gave him a shocked expression, "Wait, really?"

He chuckled nervously, "Well you know, I...I'm just looking out for you, and I can't help it if I felt...jealous that another man was giving you attention, and in turn gaining your attention."

I was absolutely astounded to hear how he actually felt about the situation, and about me. Did that mean he cared for me? I slowly sat down on the balcony railing, using one hand to support myself, the other clutched over my heart.

"What are you saying?" I asked quietly, afraid that the answer he would give wouldn't be the one I secretly wanted to hear. I looked up and watched as he walked over to where I was sitting and followed suit, taking the hand over my heart in his and resting it on my lap.

He swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing, "Look Elsa, I care about you a lot, and I just can't shake the feeling of constantly wanting to be around you. And to see that Prince waltz in here and attempt to steal your heart...was irritating to say the least."

I felt like I was frozen in place at the confession of his feelings, but willed myself to speak how I felt as well.

"Jack, Ignasi is innocent I can assure you that much, and even if he was trying to win my heart, you wouldn't have to worry...you're the only man I care about." I replied quietly, nearly whispering the last part.

Now it was his turn to be shocked and, from the looks of the smile slowly creeping up on his lips, he was happy to hear that as well. The silence between us was pretty heavy, and filled with emotion, but it was still comfortable.

Sitting there with him, I had the same epiphany I had only a few hours earlier when we were together. I really did care about Jack deeply, and I wanted him to know that. I just didn't know how to tell him. Thinking of how I felt about him, and just thinking of him caring about me made my lips twitch into a small smile.

I suddenly smiled up at him and threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close to me in a tight hug. He was a bit shocked at first but quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me even closer to him. I was surprised at my own actions, being as I normally wouldn't be so bold, but the way he looked in the pale moonlight, I couldn't help myself.

"Hmm I could get used to this..." He whispered flirtatiously in my ear.

I withdrew my hands from his neck and moved them down to rest on his chest, so I could make direct eye contact, "Get used to what, exactly?" I retorted with an eyebrow cocked at him.

"Just being with you..." How trailed off as he tilted my head up with his thumb and index finger, "...and having you in my arms."

"Me too." I managed to breath out before my breath hitched in my throat as I realized how close our faces were now, mere inches apart. Jack was staring into my eyes longingly, as if I was his, and I found myself lost in his icy blue orbs.

Jack then closed the remaining space between us and brought his lips softly onto mine. My eyes fluttered shut as I melted into his embrace and the kiss, my free hand reaching up to rest on his cheek. He mirrored my actions and brought one hand behind my neck, cradling my head, while the other cupped my face.

The kiss was gentle and soft, but it was filled with emotion, and left a lasting impression. We broke apart, and he rested his forehead against mine, bringing a hand up to mine that was still resting on his cheek.

"I could definitely get used to that." I whispered, a bit breathlessly.

He let out a small chuckle, "I agree." His breath brushing against my skin like a cool winter breeze. He shifted his position and sat with his legs crossed, pulling me into his lap with my back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and I sunk into him, welcoming the embrace entirely.

As we sat there, I thought over everything that had just happened throughout the course of the day. I had talked to Anna who had helped me realize the severity of my feelings towards Jack, welcomed in Ignasi, and my most recent romantic encounter with Jack.

As my thoughts began to blur I felt myself falling asleep, in the arms of my guardian.

_**A/N: There you have it my lovelies! Some real Jelsa has finally started up! Now don't get me wrong, these two have a lot more to go through yet, but at least now they know each other cares for the other. :)**__**So here's just a little chapter here, not too much story plot line here, but I'm just giving you guys a but of a break before things come back full force. Oops spoiler alert...but not to fear that won't be for a while! And we still have Anna's wedding to look forward to!**_

_**Luna: Well I think this chapter may have answered your question! ;) And thank you so much, I really did try to stay true to her actual character, because believe me I know what you mean about people changing her.**_

**_xXQueenElsaOfArendelleXx: Thank you! It means a lot to me that you take time to review and leave me your words of love and appreciation! :') And like you said, school work has been a pain, but i had fun so I guess that's all that matters! _**

_**Read & Review please! :) Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome! :)**_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Meetings and Mischief**

I woke up feeling more refreshed and awake then I think I ever have. Last night was the first night in a long time that I had actually gotten a good night's rest. There were no nightmares, no worries plaguing my mind, no distracting thoughts bouncing around, just peaceful sleep.

There were still so many things that were running through my mind about my encounter with Jack last night. We had kissed and shared a sentimental and meaningful moment, but what did that mean for us? Would things change between us? And if they did would they be for the better, or worse? Was there even an _us_? Or was I just making things up again in mind, secretly hoping that they'd be a reality?

Now I was just wishing I could return to sleep and escape all these thoughts that came raining down on me. I, however, knew all too well that that wouldn't happen and that I would need to be up and functioning properly soon. Today was an important meeting with the council regarding laws and other agreements with Arendelle and a few of our neighbors. Unfortunately, that meant I'd have to be seeing the Duke of Weselton again, something I was not looking forward to at all.

I sighed as I sat up and slowly stretched my arms while letting out a yawn, peeking each of my eyes open to see my empty room. As I started to wake up and become more aware of my surroundings, an idea occurred to me. I quickly sprang out of bed and headed into the bathroom to quickly bathe and dry myself off with the nearby towel.

I went over to my wardrobe, quickly selecting a navy blue dress, and rushing over to my vanity to finish getting ready. I eventually emerged from my room, my hair in a relaxed French braid on my shoulder, and went across the hall.

I knocked on the door, and waited for a reply. Instead I heard a groan in protest, and smiled to myself as I opened the door and slipped inside. Sprawled across the bed was a lump that was buried under the covers, the only visible piece of it being messy white hair sticking out in different directions.

_He's still sleeping?_

As I walked closer to the bed I heard it mumbling something in its sleep, before returning to softly snoring. I suppressed a giggle and walked to the side of the bed it was closest to, and slowly pulled back the comforter on top of it to reveal the face of the lump.

Jack lay there peacefully sleeping, the slight ghost of a smile on his lips, and his white hair spread all over his face. I bent down and softly moved a few locks of silvery hair out of his face, and stroked his cheek gently, causing him to stir. He slowly began to blink his eyes open, and looked extremely confused when his eyes met mine, before relaxing a bit.

"Good morning." He said with a sleepy smile. His voice sounded tired and groggy, and I had to admit it sounded adorable on him.

I smiled back, "Look's like today it was my turn to wake you up."

He chuckled, "Well I never usually sleep in, but today I guess it was just different."

"I would have to agree." I said with a small giggle.

He smirked at me and raised an eyebrow, while moving to sit up. He pulled me down, causing me to fall onto the bed next to him.

"Hey! What was that for?" I yelled in protest.

"That," he said laughing, "was for waking me up and interrupting my dream." He stood up off of the bed and walked to the other end of the room that contained the wardrobe.

I propped myself up on an arm and looked up at him, "And what was so great about this dream?"

He selected an outfit that matched the daily attire of citizens in Arendelle, and quickly pulled off his normal blue hoodie. He turned back to me, ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "It was about you."

I snapped my head back up to him and immediately found myself flustered at the sight of him being shirtless. I felt a heated blush creeping up my neck and across my cheeks, as I looked away avoiding his gaze.

"Oh I see, well uh... I should...um probably be going then..." I stammered awkwardly.

He slipped on the white long sleeved shirt he had picked out and pulled a dark brown cloak over his broad shoulders.

"Aw, but you just got here." He teased as he tied the strings of his cloak in front of his neck.

I stood up off the bed, and smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in my dress while clearing my throat.

"Yes, well today I have a very important meeting with many of the council members of Arendelle as well as a few of our neighbors...including Weselton."

He made a disgusted face and groaned as he sauntered back over to me, "Not that guy again...he's just as much a creep as that Hans you told me about."

I fidgeted with my hands a bit as I thought of both Weselton and Hans, from our experiences last year. Both of those men had tried to kill me in order to obtain the throne to Arendelle. Hans was now being successfully contained in a cell back in the Southern Isles, but the Duke of Weselton still posed a threat. He was never necessarily quiet about voicing his opinion that I was unfit to be queen, and always listed off numerous reasons why.

I sighed aloud, "Yes him again, and I'm sure he'll have more to complain about in regards to my reign as queen."

Jack scoffed, "What could that guy possibly have to complain about you? As far as I'm concerned you're the best queen Arendelle has ever seen."

"Well unfortunately he doesn't see it that way." I said with a small smile.

He glanced down and took my hand in his, before bringing it up to his lips and gently kissing it, "Then that's his loss, he must not know how incredible you are."

I blushed once again at hearing his numerous compliments come streaming out of his mouth so naturally. It was still a bit overwhelming, the amount of attention Jack constantly gave me. I was the girl who had been locked away for years, without any social interaction whatsoever, and Jack coming along made me almost forget all of that. This was definitely a change from what I was used to, but I was grateful for Jack and for his honest intentions.

I smiled back at him and placed both of my hands on either side of his face, reaching up on my tip toes, and placing a tender kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you Jack," I said quietly, locking eyes with him, "for everything."

"Of course, my queen." He responded almost as quietly as I had before, bringing his own hand up to my cheek.

The grandfather clock in the other corner of the room suddenly chimed its melodious long note, followed by eight more. I was suddenly brought back to reality, and reminded of the fact that the meeting was to begin in about fifteen minutes.

"Oh, I've got to go! I can't be late for the meeting!" I said worriedly.

"Already? I wish we could've spent more time together, but I understand." He said sadly.

I gave him an apologetic look and squeezed his hand, "I know and I'm so sorry, but I promise we'll find time later and I'll make it up to you."

He bent down a bit and kissed the top of my head, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be here whenever you finish, okay?"

I breathed out a small sigh of relief, "Okay."

I started walking to the door, and Jack followed suit, following me into the hallway and closing the door behind him. We each walked side by side until we had reached the dining room and Jack left to go eat breakfast. I continued the rest of the journey unaccompanied to the meeting hall in which the council would be waiting. I eventually came across the large wooden double doors, that had an intricate design painted along the edges, leading into the hall. I gently pulled back on one of the handles and opened the door before me, revealing large table with a fee of the council members. I nervously glanced across the room at the large clock, that previously belonged to my father, to double check I wasn't late.

_Phew! Still about ten minutes until it starts... _

Upon walking into the room, the few council members in the room stood up and respectively bowed in my direction. I nodded in acknowledgement and politely smiled to each of them. Within the next ten minutes, the rest of the council had come in and the few neighboring kingdoms who would be attending had come in. There were representatives from DunBroch, Corona, and Andalasia all expected to appear today.

Once everyone had been seated, I stood up clearing my throat, and spoke up, "Good morning everyone, I hope you have all had safe travels. And on behalf of all of Arendelle, I'd like to thank you for allowing to share your time here with us to discuss these matters."

A collective murmur of greetings and other additional comments were heard all throughout the hall as I sat back down.

"Your majesty, I would like to start off this meeting by expressing our kingdoms appreciation for all you have done." Douglass Kyrksen, a representative for the kingdom of DunBroc, spoke up in his heavy Scottish accent.

I nodded in acceptance and he continued, "The kingdom of Arendelle, Queen Elsa specifically, has provided numerous trade agreements as well as formed alliances with many of us in the Northeastern section of Europe. So on behalf of DunBroc, we would like to personally thank you on your generosity."

Anton Stahl was the next representative to speak up, "Corona would like to thank you as well, your majesty, and in turn congratulate you on how well you have done as ruler of Arendelle in your parents absence."

"King Agdar and Queen Idun may they rest in peace." The entire hall recited together in tradition of honoring the deaths of royalty.

After that, the rest of the meeting droned on, each kingdom bringing up more and more ideas on how to resolve issues throughout the region. Our five kingdoms were the members of the Northeastern region of Europe and we naturally depended on each other heavily. But I'd have to admit sometimes it was a bit ridiculous how petty some of the issues were. Not to mention Andalasia was always the kingdom most often in need from the rest of us, constantly begging for our help. I found myself dazing off and almost entirely forgetting where I was at the moment. Slowly, minutes turned to hours and I found the subject of the meeting had completely slipped my mind as I instead began to think of many other things. One of them being Jack.

Images of his crystal blue eyes and perfectly white, crooked smile flashed through my mind as I remembered him holding me on his arms last night. And thinking back to this morning, things had definitely changed between us and it seemed like it was for better. I was still a bit wary of the whole situation however, and there was always a part of me that was afraid of either hurting other people, or vice versa. I really did want to trust Jack, and for the most part I did, but I had been alone for all those years and had done nothing but shut people out, so this was all new to me.

"Your majesty?" I heard a voice call out politely, snapping my attention back to the meeting. I quickly glanced up at the clock to see what time it was.

_Oh my gosh! Its already 11:17... _

"Hmm, yes? I'm sorry, what was that?" I stammered, trying to recover from my previous lack of attention.

I heard a different voice speak up this time, one that sounded irritated, and turned my head to see its owner,

"As I had asked before, Weselton is still in inquiry of a trade agreement with Arendelle. That is if you would oblige with our terms and such."

_The Duke of Weselton... _

I suppressed a groan at the realization of who was inquiring an agreement, mostly because I knew he would never get it. The fact that Weselton was in the Northeastern region was permanent, but I could definitely keep them at arms length. I still did not trust them, nor did I the Southern Isles but they were further south, and I didn't want to risk anything.

"With all due respect, I don't believe Arendelle is in the market for creating any more trade agreements. We already have standing agreements with both DunBroc and Corona, therefore its not necessary for us to intervene again." I replied as dignified as I possibly could; I knew this man was not one to take 'no' for an answer.

Sure enough, he spoke up in retaliation again, "But surely, my dear Queen, you must be aware of the fact that a kingdom can never have too many allies."

All eyes turned to look at me in anticipation as the tension in the room slowly began to rise. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent showing any anger on my face, and balled my hands into fists under the table. I took a few deep breaths to remain in control, to prevent my powers from acting up, and then proceeded.

"And I assure you that I'm only doing what I feel is necessary to protect my kingdom. Surely you must be aware of the fact that, indeed, that is what royalty does." I retorted tensely.

The room fell into an awkward silence, and the rest of the council me members seemed a bit uncomfortable. The Duke opened his mouth to say something in addition, but Arendelle's head council member, Harald Lovhald, quickly spoke up.

"Your majesty, perhaps we should consider taking a lunch break."

"Actually, if we have accomplished all that we needed to, I would say that this meeting can be adjourned until further notice. Is that alright with each of you?" I asked, glancing at each representative in question.

They all looked around at each other and simultaneously nodded, before turning back to me and vocally agreeing.

"Perfect. I would like to thank each of you for making the journey out to Arendelle, as well as for coming here to voice your opinions and resolve any problems. So with that, this meeting is adjourned and our next will be scheduled within the next month."

With a few collective words of dismissal and appreciation, they slowly began to file out of the meeting hall, leaving me alone. I reminisced in the beautiful silence that now filled the hall, and closed my eyes to fully appreciate it. I wasn't left alone for very long however, because I heard footsteps coming back into the hall. I peeked one eye open to see who had joined me in the oversized room, but much to my surprise there was no one there.

_Hmm that's odd... _

I closed my eyes again once more, and allowed myself to relax. That meeting had gone on for hours and I had only paid attention to parts of it, but it still felt too long.

"Long meeting, huh?" A voice behind me whispered in my ear.

My eyes shot open, and I whirled around to see who was right behind me, only to find a pair of ice blue eyes staring back at me.

"Jack! Oh you scared me!" I said clutching my heart with my right hand.

He chuckled and extended a hand to me, offering to help me stand up out of my chair.

"Well I saw the opportunity, and I took it." He winked.

I playfully slapped his arm and mumbled, "You're such a troublemaker, Jack Frost."

"Actually I think my official title is Guardian of Fun, but...whatever makes you happy."

"Well I, for one, could use some fun to unwind from that meeting."

He laughed and grabbed my hand, before pulling me out of the hall, "Oh yeah? Let's see what I can do about that."

He dragged me down the hallway and out through the back of the castle, into the gardens. I laughed the entire way, as his childish nature once again shone through in his actions.

"Jack, where are you taking me?" I questioned between giggles.

He never answered, instead he just kept pulling me in whatever direction his desired destination was. We had finally reached the outermost portion of the castles grounds, where the fjord was waiting on the other side of the wall. He pulled me through a small wooden door, I never even knew we had, that lead to the outside of the castle.

"C'mon I wanna try something!" He said, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

"What is so important that you had to drag me all the way out here?" I teased.

"Here, try to freeze this small portion of the fjord."

I drew back in shock, "What? No! I can't do that, the last time I froze the fjord, the entire kingdom went into an eternal winter!"

"But now you know how to control your powers. Trust me, you can do it." He said reassuringly.

I contemplated whether or not to oblige, before letting out a loud sigh and extending my arms. I allowed the familiar tingle and pull in my fingers to slowly be released, thus freezing the fjord. As the area of frozen ice continued to spread I began to panic a bit, fearing that it would spread too far. But Jack said a few encouraging words to me and I found that soon I had brought the creeping ice to a halt.

"See? I knew you could do it!" Jack beamed beside me.

I turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow, "So now that you've dragged me out here, and had me freeze the fjord, what do you plan on doing?"

He broke out in a huge grin and replied happily, "I figured we could go ice skating, ya know to help you unwind."

I couldn't help the smile that slowly started to spread across my face at hearing his plans. When I was stuck in my room for years, I would sometimes freeze the floor of my room and ice skate to entertain myself. I would go on for as long as I could, until my father would suspect something going on, or the ice started to spread past my door.

"That sounds like a great idea!" I beamed, a matching grin to his plastered on my face.

He took my hand and brought me over to the fjords edge, where I then swiftly crafted two pairs of ice skates of ice with a wave of my free hand. I quickly found my way on to the frozen fjord and felt many memories come back to me. I immediately began twirling and running through small routines that I had made up over those many years. As I glided across the ice I felt free, similar to the way I felt when I had originally built my ice castle. I was letting myself go and not caring what anyone else thought.

"Wow." Jack breathed out in awe. I honestly hadn't noticed he was still standing there, and blushed a bit at the expression on his face.

When I didn't say anything in response, he continued on, "I just remembered how amazing a skater you are."

"Oh well uh...thank you." I blushed even redder than I already was.

He chuckled and skated over to where I was, taking my hand in his and slipping his arm around my waist. He then started off and lead us into a pattern of strides on the ice that resembled a waltz. Our steps, or really strides, were in sync and we seemed to flow naturally around each other. I felt as though I was floating on a cloud and couldn't help but remember our previous ice skating encounter. I rested my head against his shoulder and let myself be overcome by the whole situation.

"This is just like when we first met, and we went ice skating together." I commented, my voice slightly muffled against his shoulder.

He inhaled deeply and as he breathed out, replied to me, "Yeah, I guess that was kinda the intention."

I lifted my head off his shoulder to look at him, "Really?"

He only nodded in confirmation, and I continued on jokingly, "I never took you as the sentimental type."

"Neither did I," He chuckled lightly, "That is, until I met you."

I smiled at him and leaned up to leave a soft kiss on his cheek. He turned, however, at the last second causing my lips to land on his instead. I pulled back in surprise and stared wide eyed at the mischievously smiling boy before me.

"Jack Frost!"

"That _is_ my name." He said with a sly smirk.

At this point we had stopped dancing, or skating rather, and I stood in front of him with my arms crossed, leaning on one hip.

"And just what, pray tell, was that?" I asked raising an eyebrow, attempting to send him my best glare.

"So are you saying you didn't like it?" He teased back, stepping forward to tower over me.

I felt my intimidating stance falter, and a blush creep up again. It honestly did amaze me how effective he was at making me blush.

"I...th-that...is...beside the point..." I stuttered helplessly.

"So you're saying you wouldn't mind..." He stepped even closer to me and began to lean down slightly, until his face was inches away from mine, "...if I did it again?"

I couldn't form an answer, much less force it out of my mouth with the sudden lack of breath I had. My mind flashed back to last night as I stared into his blue pools and saw the same look of longing. As I was about to give in to his extremely tempting offer, I heard a voice off in the gardens. When I heard it again it sounded like it was coming closer to the door leading to where we were.

"Elsa!"

I closed my eyes in defeat at the realization of the voice, and I reluctantly pulled away from Jack. He groaned in both frustration and protest, and we turned to see none other than my sister stumbling down the hill leading to the fjord.

"Elsa! There you- oh geez..."she cursed as she tripped over a lying branch on the ground, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Anna, you know I was in a meeting all morning."

"Well yes, but I also know that the meeting ended at 11:15, and you have been missing since then! Presumably due to this little troublemaker over here..." She said gesturing to Jack behind me, who in turn stepped forward to stand next to me.

"How long have we been out here? What time is it?" I asked awestruck.

"Its almost noon!"

"Wow...we were out here for a lot longer than I thought." Jack muttered, a shocked expression painted on his face.

Anna turned to him and gave him a suspicious look, "What exactly were you and my sister doing?"

He held up his hands in front of him defensively, "Whoah, easy there princess! I assure you its not what you're thinking."

"Believe me Anna, if he even lay a finger on me, I'd freeze him in place." I intervened trying to make light of the situation.

Anna giggled and Jack sent a doubtful look in my direction, to which I just gently shoved him.

"Well actually, the reason I was searching for you is to ask if you wanted to join Kristoff and I on a trip to visit the trolls. Its been a while since I've been down to visit, as it has for you too, and I figured we might all take a trip down there." She offered.

"Well that sounds like a great idea...but..." I trailed off and looked over at Jack who just gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about me, I'll find something else to do." He said calmly.

"Oh nonsense! Jack can come with us!" Anna beamed.

I fidgeted with my hands, still a bit unsure of that idea, "Anna are you sure that's okay?"

"Why not? I don't mind and I'm sure Kristoff won't either, and besides it might be fun for you to meet the trolls."

"Well...okay then! When do we leave?" Jack asked curiously.

"Uh actually I think Kristoff was hoping to leave around noon, so hopefully soon! So c'mon, if you guys are ready, we should probably go find Kristoff."

With that we went back through the door leading to the gardens, and into the castles back entrance. Anna led the way enthusiastically, while Jack and I trailed behind, sharing slightly flirtatious glances every once in a while. Eventually we made our way to the front where we found Kristoff in the stables with Sven.

"Kristoff! Is it alright if Elsa and Jack tag along on our visit to your family?" Anna asked excitedly, squealing at the sight of her blonde fiancé.

Kristoff glanced at both Jack and I, before shrugging, "Sure, I guess."

Suddenly Olaf came strolling around the corner and into the stables where the rest of us were.

"Hey Anna! Kristoff! Are we ready to-...wait who are you?"

Jack looked at me confusedly, before turning back to respond to the talking snowman, but he had disappeared.

"Oh well, hi I'm Olaf!" A muffled voice said, causing Jack to look down and see the snowman hugging his leg, "And I like warm hugs!"

"Um...I'm...Jack...Jack Frost." He said, still somewhat confused at what was going on.

"Olaf, in case you hadn't noticed, is a talking snowman created by none other than my sister." Anna clarified for him.

"And I like warm hugs! Don't forget that!" Olaf added with a giggle.

"Yes and he likes warm hugs...trust me you get used to it." Kristoff spoke up, attempting to reassure Jack.

"Uh huh..." He slowly responded, taking in the scene before him.

"So where are we going?" Olaf asked.

"Well apparently all of us are going to visit my family." Kristoff answered.

Olaf gasped in excitement, "Oh yay, I love road trips! So c'mon let's get going!"

Everyone started loading the sleigh and preparing to leave while Jack still stood there in shock.

"She made a snowman...that talks."

**A/N: Oh my gosh I'm back...are you excited?! 'Cause I am! Seriously it pains me not to be able to write and to update, so the fact that I could this weekend was AMAZING! But heed this warning; Finals week is now upon me, I repeat, Finals week is now upon me. To those of you who might not be in high school (although this is rated T sooo) might not know what that is, but its basically hell. Simple.**

**So all I ask is that you please have mercy on my aching soul! And try to keep in touch and review! I loved hearing from you guys even though I hadn't updated yet!**

**And if you didn't read the previous update 'chapter' then...you most likely won't because I'll be deleting it when I post this one. My OCD just will not allow the number of chapters shown online to be off from the actual number.**

**Thank you so much to skyhopper, The Arendelle Sisters, DeathlyHallowsschoolgirl, and each of the guests that reviewed!**

**skyhopper: I just wanted to thank you for all of your positive feedback and that it was great to hear from you while being on my little absence, so thank you so much for understanding! :)**

**R&R! Comments, concerns, criticism, and suggestions are all welcome! :)**


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